Full Text: Caritas in Veritate

Here is a word file with the full text of Pope Benedict's third encyclical, Caritas in Veritate:

caritasinveritate.doc

A brief table of contents:

• Introduction (Paragraphs 1-9)
• Chapter 1: The Message of Populorum Progressio (Paragraphs 10-20)
• Chapter 2: Human Development In Our Time (Paragraphs 21-33)
• Chapter 3: Fraternity, Economic Development and Civil Society (Paragraphs 34-42)
• Chapter 4: The Development of Peoples, Rights and Duties, The Environment (Paragraphs 43-52)
• Chapter 5: The Cooperation of the Human Family (Paragraphs 53-67)
• Chapter 6: The Development of Peoples and Technology (Paragraphs 68-77)
• Conclusion (Paragraphs 78-79)

update: Read the Vatican's own short summary of the encyclical here.

Tomorrow at 6am EST: Text of Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict's 3rd encyclical

Tomorrow at 12PM Rome-time (6AM EST) the embargo will be lifted on Pope Benedict's third encyclical letter:

ENCYCLICAL LETTER

CARITAS IN VERITATE

OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF

BENEDICT XVI

TO THE BISHOPS

PRIESTS AND DEACONS

MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS

THE LAY FAITHFUL

AND ALL PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL

ON INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

IN CHARITY AND TRUTH

Once the embargo is lifted I will post the full text as a Microsoft word document here on AmP. So check back then.

Text: CUA President's Homily at the 2009 Cardinal's Dinner

For the last 20 years the Cardinals of the Catholic Church in America have gathered for one evening, to help support the mission of the Catholic University of America.

Today Fr. David O'Connell gave the homily in Houston, Texas, presenting his vision of Catholic education. AmP is privileged to provide the full text:

Homily for the 20th Annual American Cardinals Dinner: Co-Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

This is a great passage in the Gospel of John (John 6: 1-15). It presents one of the “seven signs” found in his Gospel: the wedding feast of Cana; Jesus’ cure of the centurion’s son; his healing of the paralytic; Jesus’ walking on the water; his restoring sight to the man born blind; the raising of Lazarus from the dead and, here, Jesus’ miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes. This particular “sign” is the only miracle story that appears in each of the four gospels and so it is worth our special attention.

The passage opens noting the crowds following Jesus. It is obvious that he had already established a reputation for himself that had captured their attention. The crowds following him, here and elsewhere in the Gospels, were --- more often than not --- merely “sign seekers” not true believers. They were not “convinced;” their hearts were not really touched by the preaching and message of Jesus but, rather, by the delivery and the spectacle. They witnessed these great “signs” along the way and were hoping for more.

Every time I read or hear this Gospel, some different part of it, some different phrase stands out. This evening, that phrase might actually have passed us by without much notice like a “throw-away line” in some familiar story. When confronted with the immensity of the crowd, Jesus --- whom John tells us knew exactly what he was about to do --- (Jesus) asks Philip how they were going to provide for the huge crowd. Andrew then jumps in and says we have someone in our midst, “a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish but what good are these for so many?” I can just imagine Jesus smiling at him. Without hesitation, Jesus responds with the phrase that interests me. Jesus says to Philip and Andrew, “Have the people recline.”

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, with all that is going in this Gospel passage, with all the possible things to consider, why is that phrase so particularly interesting? Let me tell you why.

When Jesus asks that crowds recline, to sit down, he is indicating a number of things. First, that despite their great numbers, he is not going to turn them away. Second, that something is going to happen. Finally, that whatever is about to happen will involve them.

Jesus “knew what he was going to do,” he was not going to dismiss them or turn them away. He “went up on the mountain” as he frequently did and sat down himself, taking the posture of a teacher. This story, this miracle, like all the others, was to be a “teachable moment.” And he has them all sit down, taking the posture of disciples, of students, of learners. Something is going to happen, something that involves them.

Jesus’ miracle is not some kind of magic trick. He takes something they already have there with them, in fact he takes all that they have, the only thing they have --- five barley loaves and two fish --- and he feeds them with it, he satisfies them. In fact, although John tells us “they had had their fill,” there was plenty left over. But until the “people reclined,” until they sat down to watch, until they depended upon him for what they truly needed, until they opened themselves to what he had to offer, until they ate as much as they could, until they realized that there was still more --- that nothing should be wasted, this huge and unruly crowd of “sign seekers” could never experience that conversion of that “teachable moment” that enabled them to move beyond the spectacle of it all to say, this Jesus is “truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”

That is what Catholic education --- especially Catholic higher education ---should do, that is the miracle it should work through the education and environment it provides. When the students recline, when they sit before their teachers --- whether they be professors or chaplains or administrators or staff --- they should expect that something is going to happen, something that will involve them: Jesus, truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world, will come into their minds and hearts and lives; Jesus will take what they already have and bring, and through our Catholic universities and colleges, will make it even more. Our students should become the bread that is then multiplied and given away, witnessing to Christ, witnessing to the Church, witnessing to the truth --- because of what we teach, because of what we affirm, because of what we support. If Christ does not “happen” in their lives, if the Church does not inspire them in their lives through our Catholic universities and colleges, Christ hasn’t failed, the Church hasn’t failed --- we have failed. We should not fail, we cannot fail, we must not fail even though many things today tempt us to compromise our identity and mission and purpose.

When Pope Benedict XVI spoke on the campus of The Catholic University of America one year ago last Friday, he called Catholic education “a powerful instrument of hope.” He reminded us that our Catholic educational institutions are “places to encounter the living God who in Jesus Christ reveals his transforming love and truth.”

Our Catholic universities and colleges have much in common with that mountainside scene along the Sea of Galilee in John’s Gospel. The living God whom we --- as they --- encounter in Jesus Christ multiplies what we have and fills us up, transforms us, and makes us overflow with a bread that the world cannot give.

“Have the people recline” in this Easter Season so that we may all realize the miracles that have been given to us and the many more that lie ahead for those who believe. Amen.

Text: CSC Superior General's (of Notre Dame) letter to Barack Obama

This letter was forwarded to me today by Dawn Eden over at The Dawn Patrol. I believe it is genuine:

Here is the full text of the 13-page letter to President Obama from the Rev. Hugh W. Cleary, C.S.C. Superior General of the Congregation of Holy Cross, which oversees Notre Dame.

update: this is evidently a public letter published in America. More on Fr. Cleary here.

Open Letter: Dr. Janet Smith to Fr. Jenkins

Dr. Janet E. Smith is the Fr. Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. She has granted permission for her letter to Fr. John Jenkins, President of Notre Dame, to be published:

"Dear Fr. Jenkins - Let me add my voice to those who are profoundly disappointed at the choice of President Obama as the commencement speaker.

The Notre Alumni Association has been putting out this statement [full text here]:

“The University does not support the President’s positions on specific issues regarding the protection of human life, including abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Our positions on these issues are firm and unwavering. The invitation to President Obama to be the Commencement speaker shouldn’t be taken as condoning or endorsing his positions that contradict the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Rather, the University has invited the President to campus for what he’s done for racial equality, and for his stands on poverty, immigration, education, infectious disease, and seeking peace. These are causes dear to the heart of Notre Dame, and he has elevated these causes and made them his own.”

Father, I know that if someone like George Wallace had been elected president of the United States, no matter how much good he had done – no matter how many causes “near to Notre Dame’s heart” he had elevated, Notre Dame would not have invited him to be the commencement speaker nor given him an honorary degree. The world would not have believed that Notre Dame remained “firm and unwavering” in its opposition to racism. It would not have thought that Notre Dame was hoping to spark a national dialogue on racism. It would have thought Notre Dame had lost its mind and faith.

It truly is a scandal that Notre Dame has decided to honor President Obama. There is no reason that Catholics should believe that we can look to Notre Dame for leadership on the most controversial issues of the day, issues that involve the yearly killing of millions of the innocent. It is such a shame."

Text: Pure Fashion Director Brenda Sharmon Responds

Brenda Sharman, Pure Fashion National Director, responds to the discussion generated by my March 11 story, "Modesty back in fashion as economy worsens?":

Hello to everyone who has commented on the Pure Fashion story in USA Today. I was notified that there was a discussion on the story and I'm happy to jump in and clarify a few points.

Point #1. Jayne O'Donnell, the reporter with USA Today is a wonderful woman with a kind heart for young girls and I so appreciate her taking the time to write this story. It's been a pleasure to get to know her over the past 9 months. During that time we discussed the history of Pure Fashion, the fact that Pure Fashion started in Challenge clubs, and then developed into it's own Apostolate.

Point #2. I never said or implied that we have broken away from Regnum Christi. Pure Fashion is a service of Regnum Christi and I too am a member of Regnum Christi. Regarding the choice of words in the USA Today article, I don't know why those words were chosen...but I'll bet that it was just a quick way to summarize that we grew out of Challenge clubs into our own program. It was obviously not the complete history spelled out, but there was no deceptive intent. Pure Fashion and I are proud to be affiliated with Regnum Christi. As of January 2009, we are now offering affiliation to Parishes, schools or Churches that would like to offer the program, so we expect a great deal of growth in the next few years and many more organizations outside of Regnum Christi who will be offering the formation program and the end of the year event...the modesty fashion show... Our culture needs as many programs as possible to support our teens in living lives of virtue!

If anyone has questions about Pure Fashion, please feel free to e-mail me directly at brendasharman [at] purefashion.com . I have always been open, transparent and available to answer questions and will continue to do so. God bless you all... I've got to get back to work, there is a lot to do!

Your Sister in Christ, Brenda.

Guest Post: A Response from Austin Ruse

It seems my defense of the Legion and Regnum Christi has struck quite a chord. I want to thank Thomas Peters for letting me respond to some of the questions and criticism that has been raised by my piece at TheCatholicThing.org - Austin Ruse:

There has been quite a lot of comment about my assumption that members of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi are now in Heaven. Of course, I cannot know this. I am assuming that members of LC/RC who die in a state of Grace receive the same promises made to all Christians who die in a state of Grace; that they will eventually achieve the Beatific Vision. I further assume that at least some of the members of LC/RC have died in a state of Grace. To the question of do they achieve this through their membership in LC/RC, I would agree that they achieve this not through membership in any religious Order or Movement but through the grace of God. However, members of LC/RC have been chosen to follow a particular religious Charism. This Charism becomes an avenue for them to live the Gospel, a way for them to correspond to the grace of God. So, I would further assert that their faithfulness to this Charism or Gospel Way is closely and perhaps inextricably linked to their salvation.

A word about Charism. I am using the term in the following way. This was taken from the website of the Carmelite Order in Ireland but similar definitions can be found elsewhere:

“A charism is a gift from God to the Church for the world. With regard to a Religious Order, the term refers to the gift which God gives to an individual or group to inspire the founding of a new religious family within the Church. This gift is handed down through the centuries and enriched by all who are called to live it. The charism of each religious family is the particular way in which its members are called to follow Christ. Since all Christians follow Christ, the charisms will have many elements in common, but the way in which these elements are emphasised gives each religious group its unique feel. All religious families have been asked by the Church to rediscover their original founding charism and make it come alive in each culture and in every age.”

One of the main questions that arises in the current controversy is whether a Charism can be separated from its founder. It is true that the Founder should most perfectly embody the Charism that presumably he received from God. But, the Charism of a religious Order that may begin with a Founder then lives on in its members, as the Carmelites note above. The Charism becomes something that is carried on member to member down through the ages. Can it be separated from the Founder. That we shall see in the coming days and months and years. I do note that not all religious Orders can even name their Founder, the Carmelites for instance, but I assume there are others.

There have been many comments about my using Father Thomas Berg as an example of a good Legionary priest. It is assumed by some that I have set him up over against the critics like Germain Grisez. While I was well aware of Father Berg’s anguished statement, please know that I did not mention him or any of the other LC/RC members as opponents of the critics. I used them simply as examples of the good fruit of the Charism of LC/RC. I stand by that.

Finally, I do not have a dog in the fight of what should happen to the Legion and Regnum Christi. I believe it is up to the Legion and Regnum Christi and the Holy See. I do not believe it is up to Germain Grisez, good man that he is, or the other lesser more hostile critics like Rod Dreher. I believe the mob mentality that has arisen over this crisis has only exacerbated the problem and in the process has deeply hurt those members of the Legion and Regnum Christi who were hurting already. I urge them to stay fast to the Charism. If it is of God it will last. It not it will die. And Glory Be His Will.

Statement from Director of Regnum Christi in New York {AmP exclusive}

From Fr. Richard Gill, Director of Regnum Christi in New York and of Our Lady of Mt. Kisco Retreat Center.

I’ve been a Legionary priest since 1991 and I have always loved my Congregation and my priestly vocation and I only hope Our Lord has used it as an effective means of grace for many people to find their way to a deeper relationship with Christ.

I thought I knew Fr. Maciel. I do believe he did many good things for many people. I have benefitted greatly from the formation and life I have lived as a Legionary for twenty-eight years. I defended Fr. Maciel because to the extent I thought I knew him, I sincerely believed the allegations against him were baseless.

Yet, in light of what has been coming out about him, I must say I am terribly sorry to have defended him. I believe I acted in good faith, yet nonetheless did an injustice to the victims.

I am deeply sorry to the people who have suffered from these inexcusable and reprehensible actions of Fr. Maciel. No person should have to suffer abuse at the hands of a priest in whom they have put their trust. And his actions have damaged the holiness of the Church and contributed to the alienation many people feel due to similar scandals in the Church.

I offer my prayers and sacrifices for anyone who was victimized, so they may continue to heal and discover the love of Jesus Christ.

I am confident that our superiors are working closely with the appropriate dicasteries of the Holy See to chart the best course forward for the Legion of Christ so it can be of better service to the Church and the Holy Father.

Fr. Richard Gill, LC
Our Lady of Mount Kisco Retreat Center
773 Armonk Road
Mt. Kisco, NY 10549
rgill@legionaries.org

Posted with permission of the author.

Please keep all members of the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi in your prayers.

update: Edward Peters examines this new letter, at the end of this post.

Text: CSC Superior General's (of Notre Dame) letter to Barack Obama

This text was sent to me by email on April 22nd. I believe it is genuine.

Please add your comments here.

Here is the full text of the 13-page letter to President Obama from the Rev. Hugh W. Cleary, C.S.C. Superior General of the Congregation of Holy Cross, which oversees Notre Dame.

THE CONGREGATION OF HOLY CROSS
General Administration
Via Framura, 85
00168 Rome, Italy

March 22, 2009
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
The United States of America

Dear Mr. President,

Congratulations on being awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Notre Dame!

The University of Notre Dame was founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross and in 1844 it was established as a civil moral person by a legislative act of the state of Indiana. On March 6, 1967, with the consent of the Holy Father Pope Paul VI, in the spirit of Vatican Council II with its clarion call for all Catholics to take greater responsibility for living and strengthening the life of the Church, the Congregation of Holy Cross ceded its ownership of the University of Notre Dame to a Board of Fellows. The University remains, however, under the continuous sponsorship of the Congregation of Holy Cross of which I am the Superior General.

The dramatic alienation of ownership of the University of Notre Dame from the Congregation of Holy Cross took place in light of the Second Vatican Council's recommendation that competent laity play a more significant role in the administration of religious and ecclesiastical property. Through this unprecedented gesture the Congregation of Holy Cross sought to offer competent lay Catholics broader responsibility for Catholic higher education without jeopardizing the authentic Catholic character of the institution.

President Obama, the University of Notre Dame is honored to have you, as President of the United States of America, deliver the commencement address to the graduating class of 2009. Personally, in so many ways, I admire you as a great American, a person endowed with extraordinarily well developed intellectual gifts, and, in my opinion, a man whose enormous compassion characterizes the goodness of his heart. Mr. President, you have the potential for greatness; I pray it be realized.

As you know the University of Notre Dame's decision to award you the honorary degree and to invite you to deliver the commencement address is fraught with controversy. As Superior General of the Congregation of Holy Cross I have been deluged with angry e-mails regarding Notre Dame's decision to invite you to campus for the honors you are to receive.

Because of the University's legal civil alienation from the Congregation, I have no authority over its decision making - those responsibilities are now directed by a Board of Fellows and a Board of Trustees. Nevertheless I do hold personal authority over all of the Holy Cross priests and brothers of the Congregation who serve at the University of Notre Dame including its president who is always a Holy Cross priest.

President Obama, you are superbly versed in the issues of our day. I have no doubt that your policy convictions are grounded in rigorous study and that all your important decisions are supported by your conscience. Therefore, through this open letter, I would like to take advantage of the occasion of your receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame, to ask you to rethink, through prayerful wrestling with your own conscience, your stated positions on the vital "life issues" of our day, particularly in regard to abortion, embryonic forms of stem cell research and your position on the Freedom of Choice Act before Congress.

Perhaps such an impertinent request rings with insolence. I mean you neither rudeness nor disrespect. I ask you this directly because as a Catholic, in this critical area of life and death issues, I hold and promote contrary views to your own as to what is right and just for the common good of our nation.

In a very real sense your presence at Notre Dame offers us a kind of seminar, a stimulus of mind and heart, to quicken and incite conscience formation. None of us want to be stubborn and yet we have clear convictions. We want to be open to a variety of perspectives yet it is our principled beliefs that define us. We Catholics are always battling the vagrancies of "relativism." It is clear, however, that your positions on some of the fundamental "life issues" of our nation can neither be supported by the mission and ministry of the Congregation of Holy Cross, the University of Notre Dame nor the faithful Catholic community.

Mr. President, in thinking of your coming visit to Notre Dame, I am reminded of the way you seized the opportunity, in the heat of your campaign for president, to address the issue of racial bigotry in our American culture. Your courage in addressing a history of the racism and violent discrimination in a nation grounded in human rights and freedom for all, confronted us with the inconsistency and hypocrisy of our words and actions. In addressing the issue of racism head on with passionate convictions and sterling logic you not only benefited politically during a critical point of the campaign but you also used this precarious opportunity as a teachable moment for the nation, calling us to our best selves, to live truly who we say we are.

In a similar way your presence at Notre Dame affords all of us a teachable moment. We Catholics will not modify or compromise our essential faith convictions but we do need help in developing our skills of communication and organization to express our faith convictions in American society so as to be heard and taken seriously. How are we Catholics to participate in all levels of government without betraying our consciences or without being coerced by potential laws that would violate our consciences? This is a colossal concern for us with far reaching consequences that go to the core of who we are as a nation, as human beings and people of faith.

Father John Jenkins, C.S.C., President of Notre Dame, reminded students recently that that the University of Notre Dame aspires to help them grow in faith and moral character. He gave them points to ponder. In a list of six smidgens of wisdom, Father Jenkins first urged them to wrestle with the largest questions of life such as:"What is a truly good, worthy human life and how do I live it?" Perhaps the largest question of all is: "What, if anything, am I willing to die for?"
Will we die for our essential beliefs?

Most Catholics, who disagree with the decision of the University to offer you this award, are rooted deeply in their faith, however imperfect we may be. We often fail, we are sinners, no doubt about it. Trusting in God's love we try to pick ourselves up, seek forgiveness and try to do better. Our faith means everything to us; we have a faith we will die for.

Sadly today, many faithful Catholics now feel out of the mainstream of our nation's direction and decision-making. Sometimes it seems many legislators, judges and executives, and even yourself, Mr. President, dismiss our views too off-handedly, without giving them the serious attention and reflection they deserve. How are we Catholics to go about getting ourselves to be taken seriously by our government leaders?

President Obama, your presence at Notre Dame, a premier Catholic institution, is regarded by many good Catholics as scandalous because of your support of abortion rights, regarded by us as an intrinsic evil. In awarding you this degree, they experience Notre Dame as undermining essential, intrinsic Catholic dogma which upholds the dignity of human life. They believe that in honoring you or in giving you a platform to speak, the University of Notre Dame is selling her soul for who knows what: perhaps, at best, for the prestige and glory of having the President of the United States on campus during his first year in office or perhaps at worst, giving an endorsement to your "anti-life policies."

I do not believe this outrage is simply a demonstration of partisan politics. I sincerely want to rejoice in your presence at Notre Dame as President of the United States. But really, can I? In all sincerity, President Obama, how are we Catholics to deal with you, or any other government leader, who upholds what we believe to be the intrinsic evil of abortion and who is willing to sign the FOCA legislation? How are we to confront Catholic leaders in your own Administration by whom we feel so abandoned? Are we to use tactics of shunning you and dismissing you as we feel shunned and dismissed? This is a far from frivolous question. Shunning seems to be the growing trend among many Catholic leaders and institutions today. It seems to be the only recourse left open. It is, of course, a tactic many politicians have used on occasion, including yourself.

During the campaign for example, you went to great and painful lengths to distance yourself from your pastor over extremely controversial issues. Our Catholic concern for the right to life motivates us to go to great and painful lengths to distance ourselves from you because of your position on many of the "life issues."

There are also politicians on both sides of the aisle who say we as a nation can never meet or negotiate with our enemies until they first change their ways. Your predecessor, for example, shunned political leaders of nations who sponsored state terrorism. Your administration has taken a different tact. You have indicated your willingness to engage our nation's foes in dialogue, yet Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, states that he will continue to shun you until the United States changes behavior toward Iran. "Change only in words is not enough. Change must be real," he said.

Likewise, there is no way you could possibly invite the Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to the United States to address a joint session of the Congress. It is unthinkable. Many Catholics find a parallel situation in your being invited to speak at a Catholic institution like Notre Dame. They are scandalized beyond measure that Notre Dame would do such a thing.

Mr. President, as you know the "life issues" before us are quite matter of fact, yet exceedingly complex. Our most essential faith conviction is straight-forward. You yourself expressed it so well in your remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast this past February 5th, when you said: "No matter what we choose to believe, let us remember that there is no religion whose central tenet is hate. There is no God who condones taking the life an innocent human being. This much we know."

This much we know, Mr. President, your statement on the taking of an innocent life is our belief. It is the kind of clear, straightforward talk of your conscience convictions that we find so appealing. But sadly for us Catholics, your words do not express our meaning when you speak of "taking the life of an innocent human being."

President Obama, I found the entirety of your remarks at the prayer breakfast truly inspiring and motivating. In your words I found, in summary form, the reason of my admiration and esteem for you and the root of my patriotism. With your words, however, I also found, in summary form, the reason I could vote neither for you nor the Democratic ticket nor the Republican ticket. In fact, as a Catholic I believe myself disenfranchised from my government and disillusioned with what I perceive as a great gap between the rhetoric of our founding national ideals and the hubris of our so-called national convictions which more and more seem simply to enshrine our self-interest for prosperity over democracy. As an American Catholic, will I ever be able to vote again for a nominee of a major political party when each party, in my view, fails the consistency test in promoting the rights and dignity of all human beings from conception to natural death?

I am embarrassed to confess that I sat out the last election cycle. I am finding it more and more difficult to vote for the candidates of our major political parties. My friends tell me to vote by all means, vote for the lesser of the evils. Unfortunately today's evils seem so much larger than my conscience can bear, whether they be on abortion, the death penalty, euthanasia, immigration, the economy, housing for the poor, health care for the uninsured, the environment, war or weapons of mass destruction. I do love my country and I do want to vote. I just don't know how to vote while remaining true to my conscience formed by my faith convictions.

But to return to your simple truth: "There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being."

Catholic dogma insists that life begins at conception. Innocent human life is conceived through sexual intercourse meant to be the most intimate, expression of love possible between two human beings, save giving up one's life for the other. In his first encyclical, "God Is Love," Pope Benedict XVI taught that "one meaning in love, amid a multiplicity of meanings, stands out in particular: the love between man and woman, where body and soul are inseparably joined and human beings glimpse an apparently irresistible promise of happiness. This would seem to be the very epitome of love."

It is true that sometimes, tragically, life is formed in the brutality of rape or in the shame of incest. Likewise life is often unintentionally conceived within the process of people solely seeking sexual pleasures.

But in Catholic dogma, human life is human life. Abortion is considered an unspeakable crime, the taking of an innocent human life. As you so well stated "no God condones taking the life of an innocent human being." As Catholics, that much we know. You prayed "let us remember that there is no religion whose central tenet is hate." Just as love begets love, hate begets hate.

There are some people who hate the life of a child in the womb due to the unwanted consequences of sheltering, nurturing and forming that new "intruder," that new guest, who is now forever altering the agenda of one's personal life as well as the life of our larger society.

There are some religious people who now hate Notre Dame for inviting you to speak at the 2009 graduation and receive an honorary degree. I fear their hate will beget further hate. Will their hatred ultimately destroy their souls in the guise of self-righteousness, just as powerfully as abortion destroys the physical life of a newly conceived child?

Embedded in the civil laws framing our United States cultural values, and even among some Christian believers, an embryo growing in a woman's womb is not considered to be a human life; "it" is regarded simply as new tissue, a kind of cancerous, biological growth infecting a woman's body and threatening a woman's independent way of life. Legalized abortion clearly implies that a person's choice for personal freedom supersedes the natural human obligation to protect and nurture human life. Biological destiny has its challenges for both women and men in making our choices. The Hebrew Scripture emphatically expresses the right decision in the choice between life and death: "choose life!"

Faithful Catholics believe that the fetus, the embryo, growing in the womb is a distinct human being. We believe that the new child's mother is the guardian of her baby's life within her womb. She is offering this new creation precious hospitality, just as a Christian might give a journeying pilgrim the respite of hospitality within one's own home.

This much we know, Mr. President, in our culture, dictated by the law of the land, a newly conceived embryo is not offered the dignity and rights of an independent, innocent human being. "There is no God who condones taking the life an innocent human being." As Catholics, this much we know, abortion is taking the life of an innocent human being. Nothing will ever change that.

President Obama, would you really sign into law a bill like FOCA which would force faith-based hospitals and healthcare facilities to perform abortions? Would you deny doctors and health care professionals their most precious human freedom in choosing life?

The issue of choice in American law looms large before us: in your logic it will be lawful to choose abortion but it will be a crime to choose life. In Catholic logic one cannot choose to murder in any circumstance, even in punishment for crime. One can choose life but not death. I am not so naïve as to believe that passing such ill-advised, contemptible legislation such as FOCA will "end the culture wars" as you have stated. On the contrary it will be considered by many of us as a persecution of the Catholic Church.

Tragically, we have a tradition in our United States culture which gives us permission to define the parameters of human life when it suits our self-interest. Did we not justify our tradition of slavery by denying that a black human being of African decent was fully human? To call a slave a human being would have interrupted the economic progress and well being of our country's self-interest. Many leaders of the nation believed we could not afford to do that. As I understand it, President Lincoln had a contrary view and took us to civil war for the sake of unifying our country's conscience in terms of the rights and dignity of all human life. Or was it simply a war fought over the nation's economy?

And so now today we are engaged in a great civil war over conscience formation. The defense of human life is an obligation for all humanity, not just for Catholics. Or is this war simply a war over the right to defend our self-interest without regard for promoting the responsibility we have for others?

An "unwanted" child comes in many forms: an untimely presence; a disabled or deformed creature; an embryo of the wrong sex; a child conceived out of wedlock; a child conceived through a hideous crime. We today have an unparalleled capacity through our scientific know-how, unlike the limited knowledge at the disposal of Adolf Hitler, to create a super race, free of any spot or wrinkle. The new laws of our society seem to aspire toward creating genetic purity within the human species, hoping to assure a problem-free future for the sake of human happiness, pleasure, prosperity and peace.

There is no doubt in my mind, Mr. President, that in the not too distant future we will have godlike powers to form the perfect human species. The Tower of Babel will have had nothing on us when it comes to asserting our god-like greatness.

Surely future laws will require us to remove any genetic tendency toward weakness and imperfection; we will soon have a nation (and world?) of perfect "Stepford Wives" and perhaps "Stepford Husbands" and "Stepford Children." We will soon become quite adept in the art of putting people out of their misery; particularly if they are causing us misery!

On a very personal level, Mr. President, as a young man I was scandalized by the Republican agenda after theRoe vs. Wade decision. As I recall, perhaps mistakenly but I sincerely believe accurately, that some powerful Republican governors introduced the country's most liberal abortion laws in their populous states. I seem to recall hearing one Republican Senator say in a television interview that he favored abortion because it was cheaper than welfare. I also recall hearing an influential Democrat calling abortion "black genocide." Somewhere along the line, I suppose in the defense of women's rights and in the rise of Christian fundamentalism as a political power, the agendas flip-flopped, one side to the other. How did that ever happen? But when it did, given my faith convictions and my conscience, I had no choice but to surrender my political affiliation as a Democrat and become an Independent.

In all sincerity, Mr. President, how am I to conduct myself as an American Catholic? If the "Freedom of Choice Act" were to be passed, would it mean that I flee to Canada in protest, the way so many of my peers did during the Vietnam War? Should I flee to the desert as did Christians of old to escape the fabric of a sinful society seemingly beyond conversion?

In my humble opinion, Mr. President, it doesn't do us any good to withdraw from society; and it surely doesn't do us any good to throw things at one another, be they shoes or missiles or ugly words. Does it do us any good as Catholics to honor with honorary degrees those who disagree with us over essential matters of life and death? In my opinion it doesn't do the conscience of Catholic politicians any good to state that while they are personally opposed to abortion, they will nevertheless uphold the law of the land.

When the Honorable Mario Cuomo was Governor of New York, a Catholic civil servant, for example, he said that although he was opposed to abortion he would support abortion rights as the law of the land. Yet in promoting opposition to the death penalty, and in this I fully agreed with him, he was willing to fight with all his political might to change the law of the land. Where was his consistency? Where is any Catholic's consistency in living faith as a public servant or in honoring a public servant who chooses death over life, whether it be through abortion or through punishment for crime?

President Obama, what good will it do for Catholic politicians to bring his or her faith convictions into the culture wars of legislating for the common good? Surely they will lose their next election; the secular industrial news media complex will see to that. From what platform, then, ought Catholics to speak? Can we only shun the political world and thereby risk losing our souls to a possible spiritual death through indifference or self-righteousness? It seems shunning has become our only choice. Surely we can do better than that. Our sins as a Catholic Church are well known, we cannot dare be self-righteous. But we dare not remain silent either, even in the face of our own sins. Repentance and conversion, mercy and forgiveness are the only healing remedies for all of us.

And how are Catholics to relate with Catholics who seem so indifferent to these fundamental life issues? I agree with Archbishop Charles Chaput, who complained: "Too many Catholics just don't really care. That's the truth of it. If they cared, our political environment would be different. If 65 million Catholics really cared about their faith and cared about what it teaches, neither political party could ignore what we believe about justice for the poor, or the homeless, or immigrants, or the unborn child. If 65 million American Catholics really understood their faith, we wouldn't need to waste each other's time arguing about whether the legalized killing of an unborn child is somehow 'balanced out' or excused by three other good social policies."

Mr. President, may I digress for a moment and risk trying your patience? May I share with you a great personal gripe with our American free press? The big business of our industrial news media complex seems hardly free to me. The industrial news media complex seems no more than a huge business monopoly whose owners have become the new teaching hierarchy of the culture wars. The Catholic Church's magisterium, teaching authority, cannot hold a candle to the magisterium of the powerful lords of the industrial news media complex.

When it comes to reporting news of the Catholic Church our infamous free press seems more than eager to employ yellow journalism sound bytes to make news and money while promulgating their self-centered values in the formation of our American culture. Let me give you a current example: the Pope's recent visit to Africa. On March 17th, while on the plane to Cameroon, Pope Benedict was asked about the effectiveness of condoms in the fight against AIDS and the Church's position on the use of condoms. The Pope responded with what I perceived to be a thoughtful and gracious answer. What the church teaches in regard to healing is the"humanization of sexuality" through the promotion of sexual responsibility and dignity on the one hand, and on the other hand, "a willingness to be present with those who are suffering." He spoke of the many church programs and dedicated care givers currently helping people with AIDS.

As you well know, Mr. President, the news media make the news. Their story reduced the Pope's visit to Africa as a condemnation of condoms, ignoring completely his eloquent message for justice, peace and mercy at every level of life on the African continent.

How can the media play up condoms and downplay encouraging words such as these of Pope Benedict XVI which offer so much challenge and inspiration that can enrich us all?

"Angola knows that the time has come for Africa to be the Continent of Hope! All upright human conduct is hope in action. Our actions are never indifferent before God. Nor are they indifferent for the unfolding of history. Friends, armed with integrity, magnanimity and compassion, you can transform this continent, freeing your people from the scourges of greed, violence and unrest and leading them along the path marked with the principles indispensable to every modern civic democracy: respect and promotion of human rights, transparent governance, an independent judiciary, a free press, a civil service of integrity, a properly functioning network of schools and hospitals, and - most pressing - a determination born from the conversion of hearts to excise corruption once and for all."

Mr. President, I am quite sure you will find in the Pope a kindred spirit when you meet him. Both of you have keen intellects and compassionate hearts.

Unfortunately, the current newsmakers clearly find Catholic bashing in vogue. They ridicule the Church's rich social and spiritual teaching with inane sound bytes meant to undermine the teaching authority of the Church in fostering a good and just civilization of love.

Mr. President, what advice would you give someone like me who wants to respect a wide diversity of opinion yet who seeks to live faith convictions that relate to the essential common good of our American Society?

Like so many Americans, and people of good will around the world, I find such great hope in you. I pray my hope will be realized; however, I fear disillusionment, I fear being let down, with a thud. I mentioned that I believe you have the potential for greatness. I sincerely pray for the realization of your potential because, selfishly, in the process, you will help me and many others to fulfill our potential as human beings created in the image and likeness of God.

When sharing smidgens of wisdom with Notre Dame Students, one point Father Jenkins made, which I like very much, concerned the risk of their making mistakes while striving for excellence in all they do. He said that our mistakes can often be great teachers, for they offer us great sources of insight and motivation. He quoted Chief Justice John Roberts who once said, "Failure is a more effective stimulus than success - because you don't get to do it over, but you do get the chance to do it better next time."

Mr. President, may I be so audacious as to suggest that you have made a mistake in your position supporting abortion rights as the law of the land. May I suggest, with all humility for I am far from perfect, that you give your conscience a fresh opportunity to be formed anew in a holy awe and reverence before human life in every form at every stage - from conception to natural death. For we are all the Children of God.

I believe, President Obama, as I am sure you do, that love makes the world go round. I gained the greatest appreciation for the meaning of salvation through God's love lived out in human beings in the holy words of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. They reinforced for me the nature of Christ's death on the cross for the sake of our salvation; they taught me what it is to be Christ-like. Permit me to share them with you. You are more than likely familiar with them already. He said:

"To our most bitter opponents we say: We will match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will and we shall continue to love you. Throw us in jail and we shall still love you. Bomb our homes and our churches and we will still love you. Threaten our children and we will still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our communities in the night hours. Beat us and leave us half dead, and we shall still love you. But be assured we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day we shall win freedom, not only for ourselves but for you as well. Appealing to your consciences and your heart, we shall win you over in love in the process of gaining our freedom. Our victory will be a double victory."

Mr. President, I pray that Catholics, through the grace of God's love in their passionate determination to love all people, will help win over our American society and our world culture to reverence the inherent dignity of all human life, without exception.

I don't want sound bytes to determine the kind of relationship of respect I have for you or the quality of fidelity the University of Notre Dame has with the larger Church. I want simply to be respectful of you as my brother and my President to dialogue with you and my country without betraying my fundamental faith convictions. We live in a pluralistic society, yes. Concerned and committed Catholics are an essential part of that plurality. We have something vital and indispensable to say to everyone about these "life issues." We want to be taken seriously. We insist on taking ourselves seriously, that is why there has been so much protest and turmoil in regard to your presence at Notre Dame.

I want, in words of Rev. King, to embrace what I believe to be the great truth which stands before the door of the United States today: "to stand up for that which is right and that which is just...We die when we refuse to stand up for that which is right. We die when we refuse to take a stand for that which is true. So we are going to stand up right here."

The defense of all human life is the great truth standing before the door of our lives in American society today. I pray that the nation will open that door of truth and walk through it. We need you, Mr. President: your goodness, your courage, your faith convictions about the sacredness of all human life, from conception to natural death, to lead us through that door.

Perhaps, Mr. President, at the University of Notre Dame, you can stand up and shed some light on how Catholics can be taken seriously for our faith convictions without being dismissed off-handedly and shunned; it is so offensive to be ignored, it is unacceptable. We need to rally; we need to stand up for this great truth of life.

Please, Mr. President, stand up for the truth of life, walk through that door and take us, as a nation, with you. If you do, I have no doubt whatsoever, that your greatness will be realized.

Be assured of my prayers, Mr. President, for you and your good and delightful family. What a blessing your family is to the nation. May God's grace expand the love in your hearts day in and day out. And, too, congratulations on receiving your honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame!

Respectfully yours,

Rev. Hugh W. Cleary, C.S.C.
Superior General

Text: "Grisez's Response to a Critic and a Friend" {AmP Exclusive}

Dr. Germain Grisez, who has already posted an open letter and a follow-up on these pages, now responds to what he describes as "the nastiest critic and the only serious effort at counterargument that I’ve seen".

Please post your comments here.

Posted with permission of the author, February 12th, 2009.

Someone who remains Anonymous on this website says: “Whenever there is a crisis there is a tendency for everybody and his dog to weigh in as experts. Now we have the Peters, Weigel and Grisez among others ‘directing’ the church as to what it ‘should’ do.” Anonymous exhorts us: “Please don't forget that you are maligning many good and holy people, perhaps far holier than yourselves, when you attack an order that is full of extremely dedicated people, who have given their lives for Christ.”

I have not been trying to direct the Legion and the Church as to what they should do. Rather, I have offered advice and provided reasons to accept it, especially this reason: “Even after the death of an institute’s saintly founder, its members’ service and life continue as cooperation with him or her. Regardless of Father Maciel’s subjective moral responsibility—which only God knows—the evidence of his objective betrayal of his commitment makes it impossible for you and other good and faithful Legionaries any longer to carry on your service and life as cooperation with him.”

I addressed that reasoning to friends in the Legion and posted it in the hope that other good and faithful members of the Legion and of Regnum Christi would read it and urge their superiors and/or the Pope to do what is necessary to salvage their common good from the wreckage resulting from Maciel’s wrongful behavior. In offering my advice, I have neither attacked the Legion nor maligned its members.

Unlike Anonymous, whose response simply ignored my argument, one of my Legionary friends, in a private communication, responded to my argument. He points out that God often has done great good through sinful men, for example, he gave us the Psalms through David. But while true, that is beside the point. Jesus, not David, leads us when we do the Liturgy of the Hours. We do not belong to an institute that David founded. Moreover, David did not lead a double life.

My friend also recalls that some of the Franciscan friars who split off in the sixteenth century to found the Capuchin Franciscans eventually rejoined their original community, were expelled for rebelling against superiors, and/or left the Catholic Church. Yet the Capuchins survived and flourished. That’s true. But the men who led the Capuchins to success regarded Francis of Assisi, whose purity of heart is unquestionable, as their father founder. Their movement’s whole purpose was to regain a more perfect share in Francis’s charism—to be, as they saw it, more Franciscan than the Franciscan communities from which they split off.

Contrast that with Fr. Alvaro Corcuera’s testimony: “Through the charism he [Maciel] passed on to us, many people have received from God what has given meaning to our lives: love for Christ, the Blessed Virgin, the Church, the Pope and souls.” Most Catholics whom I have known, including my own parents and siblings, received all those things as the practice of the Catholic faith they received from their parents, first pastors, and other early teachers.

My view is that what Legionaries and Regnum Christi members received from Maciel was something different and more specific, something that includes both the holiness that he appeared to embody—which, by God’s grace, many of his followers really do embody—and the reality of his duplicity. If the compound of apparent holiness and actual duplicity could constitute the charism of the founder of a religious institute, members of the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi could reasonably continue with Maciel as their “Father Founder.” But I think those who have hitherto regarded Maciel as Father Founder might still salvage, from the wreckage resulting from his wrongful behavior, much of what they stand to lose—but only if they can obtain the Pope’s help in identifying new leaders to serve as founders of a re-formed, and reformed, institute and lay apostolic group.

===

Please post your comments here.

Text: an RC member's account of Fr. Alvaro's Mass

This email is being widely circulated among members of Regnum Christi. It's an account of the same Mass I attended, celebrated by Fr. Alvaro, the head of the Legionaries of Christ.

I've reported my impressions of the same Mass/homily here.

Please post your comments here.

I've bolded parts of the text I found interesting. I have also scanned the text for typographic errors:

Dear family and friends,

This week each one of us has learned that our founder, Fr. Marcial
Maciel, has fathered a daughter now in her early twenties. Deeply
saddened and confused, I myself have internally sought to reconcile
the irreconcilable contradictions: the scandal of what he has done and
the foundation of the Legion and Regnum Christi. Having wrestled with
these truths in my heart and in prayer, I write to you to share some
of the grace and solace that has been poured over my poor soul during
this time.

Tonight, I attended mass in Kensington, Maryland, where Fr. Alvaro
Corcuerra, the Director General of the Legionaries of Christ and the
Regnum Christi Movement, celebrated mass and spoke to us during this
troubling time. I wish to share with you his words and hopefully this
may help you to find some peace.

The Mass began in great solemnity with readings from the book of Job.
How fitting that Job should be used because he was the man of
suffering, taunted by his friends that God had deserted him. Fr.
Alvaro began his homily in English and then switched to Spanish half
way through, hoping to be more articulate and allow what he was being
said to be translated properly into English. I will try to relate
faithfully only what he said and not my reflections, though what I
relate is not verbatim. I was also switching between languages
listening in both English and Spanish trying to grasp every word.

1. "I come here to be with you as a family. It is easier at times to
be together as a family when things are going well, but it is as a
family that we suffer together. I am heart broken and I am sorry if I
have caused you any suffering."

2. "With the recent events, I come to speak to you about them. Here we
must take them and place them in the heart of Christ.. Only he can
heal the broken-hearted. Only Christ can heal the suffering. Today, I
awoke at 2:00am. I was thinking about you. I prayed for you and I
asked Christ that he give to me all your sufferings. I am sorry for
any sufferings that I may have caused you. Let us put everything in
the heart of Christ."

3. "I come to you with complete openness of conscience. I am open. I
tell you what I know. Regarding the abuses that our Father Founder may
have committed. I have no precise data. I simply cannot confirm
anything. I don't know. We do know that our Father Founder has a
daughter, a girl."

4. "I was speaking to the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, about everything
almost a year and half ago. Sitting across from him, he said, "Come
closer." I moved around the corner (of the desk) so as to be nearer to
him, and I asked him. "What do you think of the Legion and Regnum
Christi?" The Holy Father replied, "You know what I think of the
Legion and Regnum Christi. I love them. I am near to them. Tell them
that I am near to them. My only concern is that you will be caught up
in the event and the news and that you will not grow. You must grow."
I tell this to you so that you may know that the Holy Father is near
to us."

5. "I have wanted to speak to each Legionary and consecrated
personally. This was very difficult. I had to tell them everything. I
had to also tell everything to Fr. John Walsh who brought me into ECYD
as a boy. I told Fr. Walsh and he told me about how a rocket launches.
The Legion and Regnum Christi are like a rocket. When a rocket
launches. It goes through different stages of the launch. In different
stages of the launch, parts of the rocket fall off. These parts of the
rocket must fall off in order for the rocket to launch properly. We
are in a new stage of the launch. Fr. John Walsh also told me that he
will only preach one thing now. As a priest, he will only preach the
Mercy of God."

6. "I as a priest have only received good from our Father Founder. I
received this beautiful charism and I have received my relationship
with Christ from him. This is what I have personally received. If
there is anyone who is suffering on my account. I am sorry."

7. "Before Nuestro Padre died, I spoke to him in Palermo. He told me.
The Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi are the Legion of CHRIST and
Regnum Christi of CHRIST. They belong to Christ and the Church. They
are of the Church. They do not belong to a person. They are for the
Church."

8. "During this time, Cardinal Franc Rode, Prefect for religious
orders, has been very near to us. He has been attending events with us
in Chile, in Brazil, etc. He told me," I tell you this not as a friend
but as a man who loves the Church and Christ. The Legion and Regnum
Christi are for the Church. They belong to the Church. And you, Fr.
Alvaro. You need to go to confession. .."..I was confused saying, well
I went last week and you know that I go weekly. The cardinal told me,
"You must confess your fear. You are not afraid of what people will
say, that is not your fault. You must confess because you fear the
lack of faith. This is Christ's work. This is a great time for
holiness." "

10. "The Church knows and the Church approves of everything that we
are doing. I am sorry for any suffering that this may have caused you.
The other day I was in Thornwood and I awoke and went for a walk in
the early morning out in the snow. I knelt down and prayed to God for
you. I put everything in the heart of Christ for you...(and at this
point, I cannot remember precisely what he said, but it was to the
effect that) Christ answered my prayer. I must believe and we must
have faith in the Church and Christ. We are Christ-centered and we
must continue Christ-centered. The Church knows and approves
everything."

This is all that I remember from the homily. After the homily, I took
advantage of the opportunity to speak to him, I relay this to you so
that it may help to resolve questions as to why there is no specific
statement from the Legion at this time. During the conversation, he
mentioned that some people are asking for a statement. They are
disappointed that there is not a written statement. He said that he is
speaking to the Holy Father and going step by step as the Church is
asking them. The statement that was to be made, has already been made, and it is the May statement of 2006. That is the statement that the Church has wanted to make. It affirms that the Church recognizes and
is grateful for the works of Regnum Christi and the movement.

I also very specifically mentioned that some would like the Church to
check each seminary and apostolic seminary so that it is sure that
they are following what the Church wants done. He assured me that the
Church knows and has approved. Everything is already approved.

Following this conversation, I turned from Fr. Alvaro and surprisingly
came face to face with Fr. Evaristo Sada. Fr. Evaristo Sada was
Nuestro Padre's secretary for may years. Many of us have met him.
Having managed to speak quietly to Fr. Alvaro, I began to cry with Fr.
Evaristo. And, here I share my own personal sentiments. I told him to
tell Fr. Alvaro that we are praying for him. Many of us are mostly
concerned about the Legionaries and the Consecrated. They are the ones
to be hurt the most. I also told him that I cried because of the
absolute humility and charity of Fr. Alvaro. And, would he please
console Fr. Alvaro by letting him know that we are putting up a
website where people can offer prayers and sacrifices as a spiritual
bouquet especially for the Legionaries and the Consecrated Men and
Women of Regnum Christi. He thanked me and mentioned that other Regnum
Christi families are adopting priests and consecrated. We could do
this also. Each family can adopt a Legionaries, a priest, a brother, a
consecrated and invite them for dinner...make them their own son or
daughter during this time. So many of them work hidden and alone, away
doing monotonous work such as secretarial and administrative duties.
(I understood this to refer to all priests and religious whether
diocesan or other.) Now is a time to welcome them into the home as
part of a family. Many of them are far away from their families.

In closing, I invite you to pray for each other, to pray for me, for
the Legionaries of Christ, the Consecrated members of the Regnum
Christi movement, all members and the Church. I thank everyone who has
been so near to me. I appreciate all that you have done. I hope that
this website with the opportunity to offer prayers and sacrifices for
the Legionaries and the Consecrated may soon be activated....hopefully
by tomorrow night. A running tally of your prayers and sacrifices will
show on the website. I hope to send this information to you soon. If I
don't e-mail you, you may be able to google the words spiritual
bouquet soon and find the website on your own.. It will be translated
into as many languages as possible...so you can send the link to your
friends in Mexico, Europe, etc.

Please post your comments here.

Text: My observations of Fr. Alvaro's Feb. 8th Mass

February 10th, 2009

{scroll down for bullet points of what Fr. Alvaro said}

Please post your comments here. You may read a Regnum Christi member's observations here.

This Sunday I was invited to attend a local Mass of healing celebrated by Fr. Alvaro Corcuera at a Catholic parish (it counted for Sunday Mass). Fr. Alvaro, it is my understanding, has been conducting these types of events for local Regnum Christi members – I do not know how many more he has planned. The Legion speaks of itself as a family, and in the interest of truth and justice, I publish these thoughts with a hope that the promises he has made within the family, he will abide by outside the family as well.

First some general observations: the Mass was attended by many families, and many young girls (the Legionaries must have a school for young women in the area). A few girls had crafted a home-made poster with notes of encouragement for Fr. Alvaro. It was very quiet before Mass began (late by about 15 minutes). Fr. Alvaro is obviously a person of great charisma. He shook hands and exchanged muted smiles during both the procession and recession, taking upwards of five minutes each way. He met with people individually in a receiving line after Mass. Several times during the Mass a young woman walked up to the ambo and explained the spirituality of the Mass part about to begin (“this is the responsorial psalm …” etc. I have not seen this in a Catholic liturgy before.

There were about a dozen Legionary priests concelebrating, one of whom acted as a translator for the majority of Fr. Alvaro’s homily (which lasted almost 40 minutes). Fr. Alvaro never moved quickly. During his homily he cracked several jokes, which received a great deal of reaction (I would suspect because they released the tension of the occasion). At times he was animated, at other times he was convicted, sometimes searching for words, and at other times making apologies for his poor English skills.

Before and during the Mass, I saw many people with worried, drawn faces. I saw several women on the verge of tears and with tissue. During important points of the homily, one of the priests appeared to have his mouth open in disbelief, transfixed. I have to say I felt very much an outsider during the Mass. Perhaps people recognized me and knew I was not in the movement.

Here is what Fr. Alvaro said. I do not always recall where in the homily he made each of these various points, so I will list them in a bullet format, roughly chronologically (the early ones are of less interest than the middle ones – he built up slowly):

The most interesting comments are in bold.

{scroll down farther for my summary conclusions}

• At the beginning of the homily, he said the night previous he awoke at 2am and took a walk outside in the snow. In prayer, he asked Jesus to take all the sufferings of Regnum Christi and the Legionaries of Christ and put them on himself (actually, he added that he asked Jesus to split them 50/50 between himself and the translator. This is an example of the humorous interjections he made.)
• He asked people to forgive him, if he has been a cause of some of their pain. He said he has only tried to have the mind of Christ in all this
• He said it was appropriate to meet in front of the Eucharist, for the answer to all our problems can be found in It
• He said times such as these make one appreciate the Mercy of God more
• He said one must look at these things from the perspective of love and prayer
• He said in all this he has been searching for the best answer, even though people will come to different answers, he made no apology for the answer he came to (as regarding how to address the Maciel revelations)
• He said God wants all things to bring us closer to heaven, and that he has a plan for this too
• He spoke about the time surrounding when the Holy See made its announcement inviting Maciel to a life of penitence and prayer. He said at that time he went to the Virgin Mary asking her to look over her family (i.e., the Legion)
• He related his experience of being at the deathbed of Maciel, and of giving him the last rites. Before Maciel died, he said, Maciel told him that the Legion is of Christ, and it does not belong to any one person. Fr. Alvaro said that at that moment “we” realized it was up to us to lead the movement forward
• On the topic of abuse, Fr. Alvaro said that he does not have any specific access to information, and one cannot know what is true and isn’t (here, and at other points I will note, the exact content of his meaning wasn’t always clear – I was listening very carefully for what would be admitted, etc., but coming away it’s still hazy to me exactly what was said. Things were said, but often not in a definitive way.)
• He said he and all the movement must always ask what Christ would do; he said he has operated as he believes Christ would have him act
• He re-iterated what other Legionary priests have said publicly about being personally unable to deny the good things the Founder transmitted to him, saying “I received Christ [from Maciel]. I received the Church. And the Church is my life.”
• Regarding the daughter (again, this was said in a circumlocution, but the basic gist was): We don’t deny there is a daughter. We cannot deny it.
• There was mention of two changes being made to the Legion: removing Maciel’s pictures from public places and removing some feast days (it appears that Legionaries have been celebrating at least the dates in March of Maciel’s birthday and baptism day – during Lent).
• He gave a general impression that the Legionary was 100% compliant with what the Vatican wanted to see happen. Fr. Alvaro claimed that his individual visitation of Regnum Christi Chapters was approved by the Holy See: “Go tell your family.” He mentioned that before the Mass he met with each one of the present priests individually. He said he did not want members of the Family to hear the news from the Internet or on a phone call.
  The motivation for making these internal changes is to “safeguard this great charism we have received.” A charism, Fr. Alvaro said, that is of the Church (and the Legion is “nothing without the Church.”)
• He said, at various times, that if anyone had been hurt (he did not say by whom) that they should come forward and be received with open arms. He said that if there was any question someone needed answered to help their suffering he would give it (an odd promise, I thought, because the superior of an order ought to be privy to at least some information that he holds privately. Still, he made the offer.)
• He related a strange tale of his first meeting with Pope Benedict a year and a half ago. He said the Pope could tell at that meeting that Fr. Alvaro was “hurting” (he did not explain why he was hurting). He said the Holy Father told him to “come closer” (here, in this story, Fr. Alvaro spoke in his broken English directly, without the use of the priest translator). The general impression (again, general because it’s hard to recall exactly what Fr. Alvaro was meaning), was that Pope Benedict was very concerned the challenges facing the Legion would cause them to lose heart and cease practicing their charism.
• A second strange tale: Fr. Alvaro mentioned that during a recent meeting with Cardinal Rode, Rode said to him, in effect, that if the Legion stopped practicing its charism, Rode would “kill him.” This drew laughter. Frankly, I didn’t get the humor. At this point he came back to his story of waking up the night before (or that night, it was unclear) and taking a 2am walk where he implored Jesus to help him discover the right answer. Jesus evidently told Fr. Alvaro to continue with the charism. Fr. Alvaro specified that this was not a “private revelation” so he could share it with the family. He said this with a sort of wry grin so I don’t know to what degree he expected his audience to understand this personal locution to be a mystical experience, or a spiritual anecdote, or what have you.
• Ultimately, the interaction between the Vatican and the Legionaries’ own investigations remain a complete mystery to me. No specific dates were given (except ones already publicly known). I could not conclude if the substantiation of these sexual abuse allegations and the revelation of a daughter and mistress were the result of Vatican action, Legionary action, a combination of the both, etc. At times it appeared the Vatican was telling the Legionary things (typically regarding the sexual abuse). At others it appeared the reverse (perhaps more with regards to the child). At the same time, he implied the Vatican could not tell him everything (that he was, in essence, in the dark), while Fr. Alvaro never mentioned which people in the Vatican had been informed about what the Legion had discovered.

While I’ve written a great deal, you can see that, in the end, Fr. Alvaro gave practically no information beyond what is already generally known.

The additional content could briefly be summarized as follows:

• We’re very sorry for this pain. We tried our best to avoid it, but it’s impossible. This is an opportunity to grow in faith
• The Pope, Cardinal Rode, and “the Vatican” are eager to see us heal, move beyond this, and continue to practice our charism
• We’ve done everything we can by the Vatican (inform them, ask them what to do) and by the victims (if anyone has been hurt, we’ll take care of you) and now by you (we came to you personally to tell you and celebrate this Mass of healing)
• Long excurses on the Christian Life, Christ, virtues, etc. But nothing especial to the Legion. Simply Catholic teaching, always generally applicable.

And yet, at the end of Mass, the entire congregation knelt and recited together three memorized prayers: a prayer for the pope, a prayer for the general director (Fr. Alvaro), and a prayer for their own fidelity. This last prayer contains the following paragraphs, I have highlighted parts of it in bold, but they recited the entire prayer:

“ Lord Jesus, you have entrusted to us the mission of furthering the Legion and Regnum Christi … This mission comes to us as an utterly free, unforeseen, mysterious reality, out of all proportion to our abilities.

Since the Legion and the Movement will be vigorous and will flourish as long as the spirit of our founder is present and active in our lives and behavior, we ask you to open our eyes to the urgency of learning, assimilating and passing on the doctrine, spirit, apostolic methods, genuine traditions, discipline and lifestyle of the Legion and Regnum Christi, just as our founder has made them known to us, since this is our responsibility.

Lord, help us to adhere totally to the charism you inspired in our
founder.

… we ask from you what you ask of us: faith, great faith in your work, love for it, trust in its mission, docility, loyal collaboration, humility,a sense of responsibility, and fidelity. Amen.

And they finished this prayer, the congregation applauded Fr. Alvaro for some time.

For what it was worth, after the Mass, a vague acquaintance of mine walked up to me and asked how I had heard about the Mass. I told the individual, truthfully, that I was invited by a friend. The acquaintance asked pointedly which friend. I responded again, simply, “a friend”, and they walked away. It was an unflattering postscript to the experience.

This is what I saw and heard.

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Text: Dr. Grisez's Comment on Fr. Berg's letter

An official comment on Fr. Thomas Berg's letter to Regnum Christi, by Dr. Germain Grisez, Flynn Professor of Christian Ethics at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

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Posted at the request of the author, Dr. Grisez, on February 10th, 2009.

In writing his personal note “To my beloved Regnum Christi Family,” Fr. Thomas Berg, LC, did something beautiful. His note manifests pastoral love—genuine charity unconstrained by solidarity with the Superior General of the Legionaries of Christ, who seems to love Maciel too much to put himself, even now, in the place of each of those whom the “Father Founder” betrayed. Everyone touched by Fr. Berg’s love owes him admiration and gratitude for his heroic act.

To appreciate the significance of Fr. Berg’s personal note, one need only compare it with the letter written by Fr. Alvaro Corcuera, the Legionary Superior-General, to the members of Regnum Christi (published by Zenit here). Most of that letter consists of generalities that might have been written to any flock by its pastor during any hard time. The section of Fr. Alvaro’s letter specifically responding to Maciel’s wrongful behavior ignores his injury to his spiritual family. Grateful for the good that God did through the “Father Founder,” Fr. Alvaro slips past the evils Maciel inflicted on his spiritual children, and addresses their suffering and pain as if it were little more than the grief they might have felt on hearing of a saintly founder’s happy death:

In the present case, regarding the person of our Father Founder, I cannot but recognize all the good I received through him. Through the charism he passed on to us, many people have received from God what has given meaning to our lives: love for Christ, the Blessed Virgin, the Church, the Pope and souls. These are our loves. On a personal level, I am grateful to him for being the instrument God used to give my entire life meaning, seeking eternal salvation, the path to God. This is the truth I experienced, and it would be impossible to find enough words to thank him.

It is also true that he was a man, and these things that have hurt and
surprised us—and I don’t believe we can explain with our reason alone—have already been judged by God. It is true that we are going through much suffering and a great deal of pain. As in a family, these pains draw us together and lead us to suffer and rejoice as one body. This circumstance we are living invites us to look at everything with much faith, humility and charity. Thus we place it in the hands of God, who teaches us the way of infinite mercy.

For my part, I ask forgiveness for all this suffering. And I beg God with all my being to help us all to see it from the heart of Christ.

This response—so detached from the horrible reality of Maciel’s wrongful behavior and its effects on his victims—will be welcomed by anyone who hates the Legionaries of Christ. Such a person will use the serene response as evidence that the Legionaries and members of Regnum Christi are brain-washed participants in a cult. However, that unjust judgment cannot stand against Fr. Berg and other good and faithful members of the Legionaries and Regnum Christi, who were complicit neither in Maciel’s wrongdoing nor in its concealment, and who benefited from the good God did through Maciel while not being corrupted by his duplicity.

Of Maciel’s wrongful behavior, Fr. Alvaro says: “I don’t believe we can explain [it] with our reason alone.” I agree. Such duplicity had to be diabolical. It seems that Satan meant to use Maciel to found a cult, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect. But our Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit outsmarted Satan, and the Founding Father has left behind a truly Christian family burdened with a horrible legacy. Unfortunately, incidental to that legacy are some defective practices that have troubled many good parents and moved some good bishops to exclude Legionaries from their dioceses.

With the grace of God that created and has sustained it, the Christian family Maciel left behind can survive and flourish provided its members completely reject his horrible legacy and make a clean break with the past. To do that, they must not share Fr. Alvaro’s complacency but urgently seek the personal intervention of Pope Benedict XVI, for which George Weigel (in First Things) and I have called (on these pages). Only a special and thorough apostolic visitation can fully and credibly free the Christian family Maciel left behind from his horrible legacy and everything incidental to it.

To the Pope’s personal intervention, the alternative—which Satan surely desires—is that Fr. Alvaro and the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life will go on as if all were now well. In that case, there will be no credible cleansing of the Founding Father’s legacy, and the genuine common good of the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi will decompose, to the spiritual detriment of all the good and faithful members of that Christian family, and with immeasurable loss to the Catholic Church as a whole.

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Text: Letter of Juan Pedro Oriol, published Feb. 9th, 2009

Thanks to an AmP reader for a quick translation from the Spanish.

The original Spanish text is available at the end of this post.

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I am a Legionary of Christ
Juan Pedro Oriol - February 9th, 2009

Yes, I am a Legionary of Christ. What a blessed vocation! Unexpected, not
deserved. Thank you, Lord!

Almost three years ago the Holy See published a bulletin inviting Father Maciel
to live a private life of prayer a penance renouncing to all public ministry.
At the same time independently of the person of the founder, it is recognized
with gratitude the apostolate of the Legionaries of Christ and "Regnum Christi"
association. In this and in many media I carried on an open defense of Father
Maciel, but without judging the ones claiming the contrary. Being honest, I
would have given anything for being able to defend him more. Yes this is true.

With pain that is difficult to describe of which I don’t want to brag about,
we have come to know that our founder lived a double life in which facts are
starting to be known that for us were unthinkable and today are still
difficult to believe that where true, but they are.

Yes, I am a Legionary of Christ priest. Present! Like many other legionary
brothers, one day, when I was 17 years old, I left my own life plan and
decided to give everything to follow Jesus, to fight for him, loving everyone
and trying to bring them closer to the love that ignited my heart full of
dreams and self-giving.

Santi (Translators note: Santiago), my brother, had found a
congregation, new to my family in Spain, they were called Legionaries of
Christ. A few months later, Santi left everything and went to the Legion that
arrived from my beautiful and loved Mexico. I still remember my parents that
day saying goodbye to the son that was leaving the family, the girl that loved
him so much, his chosen career, his new motorcycle that he barely had a chance
to enjoy, well, everything, and entered the novitiate of the congregation
which we barely knew. All that he took with him was a pair of black pants, a
few white clothes and a pair of shoes.

The lesson of life from my brother and his companions made me one day also
receive the call in my heart when I discovered that smiling Jesus was calling
my name. I left my boat and my youth, I had to cut my long hair, renounced my
plans and dreams, and I went to start the path of this vocation that has made
me very happy and has filled all my life.

I have shared 18 years of my priesthood besides thousands of youth from
Mexico. With all my limitations, I have tried to help them open a window in
their hearts to have a friendship with the Friend that never fails. Without
deserving it, I have receive so much love from Christ, I have experienced so
much tenderness from Mary, I have learned to love the Church, I have
discovered the value of souls and I have rejoiced to see how Regnum Christi
does so much good to the ones that accept it.

But the time of the storm has come, and amidst the dashing of its waves we are
surrounded by the astonishing mystery that leads my legionary brothers and me
to act like Jesus and hand ourselves over to him and everyone with a cleaner
heart in our vocation.

United to Father Alvaro Corcuera, our general director, and to my legionary
brothers, I beg for forgiveness for denying the voices that said things that I
would have never imagined, "I beg forgiveness for all the suffering"

I have learned as a priest, when you see, get to know and exprience so many
things about a person's life in and outside the confessionary, that personal
judgment only corresponds to God. The Gospel is very clear "don't judge and
you will not be judged, forgive and you will be forgiven".

We will continue our task more than ever - continuing to do good and expelling
even the least shadow of evil. Prayer heals, purifies and strengthens us. That
is why we ask for forgiveness with all our hearts. We recognize errors; we
don't persist in defending the facts neither do we judge the conscience of a
dead person, because we can't take the place that belongs only to God.

To the ones that tell us that our face doesn't seem clean we invite them to
get to know our lives and we open our homes. We do not want to react on a
defensive way upon the questions we are asked without seeing the duty of
looking with sincerity upon the mirror of the Gospel, and doing it with the
humility and simplicity that Jesus asks from us.

To those that have doubts about us and have stones ready to be thrown at us,
we ask you to follow the path of truth and don't mix lies that produce
confusion and harm.

We are certain that "truth will make us free", and today more than ever the
Legionaries of Christ want to accept and pay whatever the price is, obeying
the Pope, serving the Church and giving all our lives till the end for the souls.

Father Juan Pedro Oriol is a Legionary of Christ priest with a Degree on
Philosophy from the Gregorian University in Rome. It is vocational director in
Mexico and family counselor. He is founder and director of Jaire. Lecturer and
author of the book “ Seeding Happiness” Dedicates his life and apostolate
working with young people in the western region of the country

[Editor's note: what follows is the Spanish-language original text...]

Sí, soy Legionario de Cristo. ¡Bendita vocación! Inesperada, inmerecida. ¡Gracias, Señor!

Hace casi tres años la Santa Sede emitió un comunicado en el que se invitaba al Padre Maciel a una vida reservada de oración y penitencia, renunciando a todo ministerio público, al tiempo que, "independientemente de la persona del fundador, se reconoce con gratitud el benemérito apostolado de los Legionarios de Cristo y de la asociación 'Regnum Christi'". En éste y en muchos medios de comunicación salí en defensa abierta del Padre Maciel, eso sí, sin juzgar a los que decían lo contrario. Siendo sincero, hubiera dado lo que fuera por haberlo podido defender aún más. Sí, así fue.

Con un dolor que es difícil describir y del que no quiero hacer el menor alarde, hemos conocido que nuestro fundador llevaba una doble vida, y dentro de ésta, empiezan a darse a conocer datos que para nosotros eran impensables y que hoy aún nos cuesta creer que sean verdad, pero lo son.

Sí, soy sacerdote Legionario de Cristo. Presente. Como tantos hermanos legionarios, un día, cuando yo tenía 17 años, dejé atrás mi plan de vida y decidí darlo todo para seguir a Jesús, para luchar por Él amando a los demás y tratando de acercarlos al amor que quemaba mi corazón lleno de ensueño y de entrega.

Santi, mi hermano de sangre, se había encontrado a una congregación, nueva para mi familia en España, se llamaban Legionarios de Cristo. Pocos meses después, Santi dejó todo y se fue a la Legión llegada de México lindo y querido. Aún recuerdo a mis padres aquel día despidiendo al hijo que dejaba su familia, la niña que tanto le quería, su carrera, su moto nueva que apenas alcanzó a disfrutar, en fin, todo, y entraba al noviciado de la congregación que casi no conocíamos. Todo lo que llevaba era una pequeña maleta, un par de pantalones negros, un poco de ropa blanca y un par de zapatos.

El ejemplo de vida de mi hermano y de sus compañeros hizo que un día yo también recibiera el llamado en mi corazón cuando descubrí que Jesús sonriendo decía mi nombre. Dejé mi barca en plena juventud, me corté el pelo, renuncié a mis planes y a mis sueños y me fui a comenzar el camino de esta vocación que me ha hecho tan feliz y que ha llenado tanto mi vida.

He compartido los 18 años de mi sacerdocio al lado de miles de jóvenes de todo México. Con todas mis limitaciones, he tratado de ayudarles a abrir una rendija de su corazón a la amistad con el Amigo que nunca falla. Sin merecerlo, he recibido tanto amor de Cristo, he experimentado tanta ternura de María, he aprendido a amar a la Iglesia, he descubierto el valor de las almas y he gozado al ver cómo el Regnum Christi hace tanto bien al que lo recibe.

Y ha llegado la hora de la galerna, y en medio de sus olas y de sus embates nos rodea el asombro ante el misterio que, a mis hermanos legionarios como a mí, nos lleva a querer actuar como Jesús y a entregarnos a Él y a los demás con un corazón más limpio en nuestra vocación.

Unido al Padre Álvaro Corcuera, nuestro director general, y a mis hermanos legionarios, pido perdón por negar las voces que decían lo que jamás podía haber llegado a imaginar, "pido perdón por tanto sufrimiento".

He aprendido como sacerdote, cuando uno ve, conoce y experimenta tantas cosas de la vida de los hombres dentro y fuera del confesionario, que el juicio personal sólo le corresponde a Dios. Y el Evangelio es muy claro: "no juzguéis y no seréis juzgados, perdonad y seréis perdonados".

Seguiremos más que nunca con nuestra labor, tratando de hacer siempre el bien y desterrando hasta la última sombra de lo malo. La oración nos cura, purifica y fortalece. Por ello, pedimos perdón, de todo corazón. Reconocemos los errores, no nos empeñamos en defender los hechos, tampoco juzgamos la conciencia de un difunto porque no podemos ocupar el lugar que sólo le toca a Dios.

A los que hoy nos dicen que nuestra cara no les parece demasiado limpia, les invitamos a conocer nuestra vida y les abrimos nuestra casa. No queremos reaccionar a la defensiva, ante los cuestionamientos que recibimos, sin antes haber advertido el deber de mirarnos con toda sinceridad ante el espejo del Evangelio, y hacerlo con la humildad y la sencillez que Jesús nos pide.

A los que tienen dudas de nosotros y tienen preparadas las piedras para arrojarlas, les pedimos que sigan el camino de la verdad y no mezclen mentiras, que tanto confunden y dañan.

Estamos seguros que "la verdad nos hará libres", y hoy más que nunca los Legionarios de Cristo la aceptamos y queremos vivirla, cueste lo que cueste, obedeciendo al Papa, sirviendo a la Iglesia y dando la vida por las almas hasta el final. +++

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Text: Open letter to Legionaries by Dr. Germain Grisez

An open letter to the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi, by Dr. Germain Grisez, Flynn Professor of Christian Ethics at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

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Posted with permission of the author February 5th, 2009.

This morning I found the attached Catholic News Service report posted on the National Catholic Register website, which suffices to convince me that the report’s content is substantially accurate. I attach it so that you may know exactly what has moved me to write this message to you, who are the only Legionaries of Christ I know well and regard as friends.

I hope that you will realize without my saying so that nothing true of Father Maciel could ever lessen my admiration and affection for you, my readiness to associate with you, and my desire to cooperate with you whenever our different vocations make doing so appropriate. As your friend, I am thinking about your plight, and wish to offer the help I can give you.

You must be feeling great pain at your spiritual father’s betrayal of Jesus, of his Church, and of you and all your good and faithful confreres. You also must be feeling great anxiety at the dimmed prospects for the unfolding of your vocations to priestly life and service. I try to imagine and do sympathize with those feelings and pray that the Holy Spirit will console you and strengthen you to console your good and faithful confreres.

In my draft of chapter three of my volume on clerical and consecrated service and life, I wrote:

While good close collaborators never renege on their total self-gift, some do leave the diocese or institute to which they first committed themselves in order to enter another, form an entirely new institute, or undertake a different sort of consecrated life. But they only undertake such a change if convinced that God is calling them to make it. Many saints have discerned such a calling and responded. Their example makes it clear that their commitment to and membership in particular dioceses or institutes is a stable but not always unalterable way of carrying out their fundamental commitment, namely, their self-gift to Jesus and his Church.

If I were you, I would bear in mind that your fundamental commitment is to Jesus and his Church. The question that should be uppermost in your minds is how to continue carrying out that commitment most faithfully and fruitfully.

You and all your good and faithful confreres share a common good that includes realities of great value: your communio with one another, your experience and habits of working together, and material means of carrying on your common service and life. All that should be protected, salvaged, and, if possible, kept intact. I do not think that good end can be realized by the juridical person, the Legionaries of Christ, and its present leadership.

Sex-abuse involving diocesan clerics and members of religious institutes has been dealt with up to now solely by sanctions against those guilty of abusive activities and by measures to prevent such activities. The bishops, religious superiors, and others who were guilty—of complicity in such wrongdoing, lying about it, irresponsibility toward victims, and so on—have in general not honestly admitted, much less rectified, what they did and failed to do. For that reason, the injury to the Church continues to fester. Still, those past experiences might seem to some Legionaries to provide a model by which your present plight can be overcome.

That would be a grave mistake for two reasons.

First, no matter how corrupt the hierarchy may be, faithful Catholics cannot do without it, but we can do without any particular religious institute. Everyone realizes that Father Maciel’s double life required the complicity of associates, some of whom surely are still members of the institute, and some of whom probably are functioning as superiors. Unless those who shared in the betrayal are identified and faithful Legionaries cleanly separate from them, the latter group’s common good will not continue receiving the support of faithful Catholics, and will not be preserved.

Second, when a bishop dies, the diocese’s priests cease cooperating with him. But even after the death of an institute’s saintly founder, its members’ service and life continue as cooperation with him or her. Regardless of Father Maciel’s subjective moral responsibility—which only God knows—the evidence of his objective betrayal of his commitment makes it impossible for you and other good and faithful Legionaries any longer to carry on your service and life as cooperation with him. Unless you and your confreres proceed as quickly as possible to terminate the juridical person, the Legionaries of Christ, and reorganize yourselves into a new institute, the common good you now share will begin to decompose: very few new men will join you, many in formation will leave, some professed members will separate, and the collaboration and support of the lay faithful will shrink.

The Pope is the ultimate superior on earth of every religious institute. Only the Pope can oversee the termination of the Legionaries of Christ, the salvaging of its faithful members and other assets, and their reconstitution into a new institute. Therefore, if I were you, I would at once appeal to the Pope to fulfill his responsibility toward you, to appoint two or three prelates—members neither of the Legionaries nor of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life—as an ad hoc papal commission to conduct a thorough visitation, identify those complicit in Father Maciel’s wrongdoing and its concealment until now, and work closely with faithful, professed members in carrying out an orderly termination of the existing Institute, election of a small group to serve as founders of its replacement, and the preparation of an entirely new and reformed body of particular law for the new institute.

Some of your good and faithful confreres undoubtedly will tell you that following my advice would violate your vow of obedience and constitute grave disloyalty to your superiors. Those sincere men will be mistaken. Your vow is to obey morally acceptable precepts. In the present disaster, it is, in my judgment, your grave moral duty to appeal to the Pope, as your superior, to save the common good of the faithful members of the Legionaries of Christ by terminating the present juridical person, and seeing to the formation of a new institute. I am sure that most who were complicit in Father Maciel’s wrongdoing were constrained by a false sense of loyalty. Do not follow their bad and disastrous example. Remember instead your responsibility to Jesus and to his Church—to all those whose souls are still to be saved by your service and that of the members of the new foundation.

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Text: Internal LC update

Text of a letter sent out by a Legionaries of Christ school principle on Febuary 4th, 2009.

Personal information has been removed. Please leave comments here.

Dear [School] Families,

I wanted to provide you with some important information about Father
Marciel Maciel, the founder of the Legion of Christ, that is
circulating publicly. Knowing that the information coming through the
media will range from fact-based to speculative, we wanted to get
something out to you quickly so you are aware of the information as it
has come to us through the most appropriate source, and put you in the
best position to counsel your child(ren) should they inquire.

As many of you likely recall, back in 2006 prior to his resignation as
the Legion General Director in 2005, and his death one year ago, the
Vatican embarked on an investigation in response to allegations made
against Father Maciel. At the conclusion of the investigation, the
Holy See sent a communiqué directing him to a life of prayer and
penance.

Upon embarking on its own internal inquiry, the Legion has
acknowledged actions "that were not appropriate for a Catholic
priest." As a result of these conclusions, the Legion and its
leadership have been working hard over the last months informing the
appropriate constituents, beginning within the Vatican, the Legion,
and as of the last few days, its Apostolates (schools, Regnum Christi,
etc.) and the Archdiocese.

This is sad and disturbing news for everyone, and I am sure even more
so for those who were closest to Father Maciel, particularly our
priests, brothers, and consecrated. But what we are reminding
ourselves here at the school is that the Legion, Regnum Christi, and
its apostolates (i.e. the school) are a work of God and they belong to
the Church, not to any one individual. We know what a gift we have
here (and what a gift our religious personnel are!) and any success
we've had or will achieve comes only through our fidelity to Christ,
His Church, and our common mission. So despite this news, we are
committed more than ever to continue our work and overcome any
challenge that might get in the way of God's will for our school, its
students and our families.

Our team is here and ready for any personal attention you or your
student(s) need regarding this matter.

God bless.

[Name]

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