Vatican leaves door open for Legionary intervention

The substance of this CNA article is that the Vatican is not considering "immediate" action in the wake of the Legionaries' crisis, but the anonymous official does leave the door open:

The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, headed by Cardinal Franc Rodé, is not considering an immediate intervention in the crisis generated by the recent announcement that the deceased founder of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi, Fr. Marcial Maciel, led a double life and fathered a child in the 1980s.

Cardinal Rode appears a great friend of the Legion. More:

An official from the Congregation who spoke with Catholic News Agency explained Saturday morning that the dicastery – usually known by its short, inaccurate older name, the Congregation for Religious – has no immediate plans to intervene in the Legion of Christ. However, the official said that intervention could happen in the future in “case of necessity.”

Well - I think we are there...

The official explained that the dicastery usually intervenes in religious congregations in two circumstances: when it is requested by the organization itself, or when the internal crisis of an organization is perceived by the Holy See as “impossible to solve by internal means.”

Interesting that the Legion has evidently not asked for an intervention itself, and George Weigel's piece lays out a strong argument that the Legion cannot solve this problem by internal means.

Interesting:

Finally, the official highlighted that the fact that the dicastery is not announcing an intervention “in no way implies a lack of sense of the gravity of the issue.”

“It just means that any step should be decided according to the principles of charity, prudence and justice, moved by the well being of those affected and the common good of the Church, and not in a rush to respond to short-sighted pressure.”

First of all, it's good that the official wishes to convey an appreciation of the gravity of the issue, because up until this point, no official Legionary spokesperson has done so.

Second, the pressures facing the Legion are far more than "short-sighted." I would argue that what has been short-sighted is the response of the Legion to this crisis. At minimum, it would appear to me that the members of Regnum Christi and the Legion are not being well served by their leadership in the short-term, and frankly, that's where they are living.