The Vatican Press Office has just released a lengthy bulletin in Italian that summarizes the main findings and recommendations of the five bishops who conducted an apostolic visitation of the Legionaries of Christ.
COMMUNIQUE FROM
THE HOLY SEE
Translated from
May 1, 2010
1. On April 30 and May 1, the Cardinal Secretary of State presided at meetings in the Vatican with the five Bishops entrusted with the Apostolic Visitation of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ - Mons. Ricardo Blázquez Pérez, Archbishop of Valladolid (Spain); Mons. Charles Joseph Chaput, OFMCap., Archbishop of Denver; Mons. Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, SDB, Archbishop of Concepcion (Argentina); Mons. Giuseppe Versaldi, Bishop of Alessandria (Italy); Mons. Ricardo Watty Urquidi, M.Sp.S., Bishop of Tepic (Mexico).
Also participating were the Prefects of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, along with the Deputy Secretary of State for General Affairs .
One of the sessions took place in the presence of the Holy Father, to whom the Visitators presented a summary of their reports, previously submitted in full.
During the visitations, the bishops met personally with more than 1,000 LC priests and evaluated hundreds of written testimony. They visited almost all the religious homes and many of the apostolic projects of the Congregation. They listened personally or received written statements from the diocesan bishops in the countries where the Congregation is present.
They also met with numerous members of the Regnum Christi movement [the lay arm of the LC}, although they were not the object of the visitation, especially its consecrated men and women. They also received a remarkable volume of correspondence from the lay members and their families.
The five Bishops acknowledge the sincere welcome given to them and the spirit of active cooperation shown by the Congregation itself and its individual members.
Although they each acted independently [within the geographical jurisdiction assigned to them], they arrived at an evaluation that was widely convergent, and at a shared judgment.
They attest to have met with a great number of religious who appeared exemplary, honest, talented, many of them young, who seek Christ with authentic zeal and who have offered their whole life to spread the Kingdom of God.
2. The Apostolic Visitation was able to verify that the conduct of Father Marcial Maciel Degollado has caused serious consequences to the life and structure of the Legion in a way that calls for profound changes.
The most serious and objectively immoral actions of Fr. Maciel, confirmed by incontrovertible testimonies, were often true crimes that manifest a life devoid of scruples and authentic religious sentiment.
This life was hidden from a great part of the Legionaries, above all by the relationship system constructed by Fr. Maciel, who was able to facilely create alibis for himself, gain the trust, confidence and silence of those around him, and reinforce his own role as their charismatic founder.
It was not uncommon that lamentably, out of the erroneous belief that nothing should harm the good that the Legion was doing, discredit and alienation was brought down on those who had doubts about his behavior, thus creating around him a defense mechanism that made him impregnable for a long time, making it difficult for others to know about his real life.
3. The sincere zeal of the majority of Legionaries, which emerged in the visits to the Congregation houses and to their projects, and which has often been little appreciated, led many in the Legion to maintain that the accusations, though gradually becoming more insistent and made public on occasion, could not be anything more than calumnies.
That is why the disclosure and knowledge of the truth about their founder provoked in most Legion members surprise, bewilderment, and profound sorrow, as the Visitators observed.
4. From the results of the Apostolic Visitation, three other elements have emerged clearly:
a) The need to redefine the charism of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, preserving its true nucleus - that of the militia Christi [the army of Christ], which distinguishes the apostolic and missionary actions of the Church and is not equivalent to efficiency at any cost.
b) The need to review the exercise of authority, which should be done in conjunction with truth, respecting conscience to carried out in the light of the Gospel as authentic service to the Church.
c) The need to preserve the enthusiasm of faith among the young, their missionary zeal and apostolic dynamism, through adequate formation. Indeed, disappointment with their founder could raise questions about vocations and the nucleus of charism that belongs to the Legionaries of Christ and which is their own characteristic.
5. The Holy Father wishes to reassure all the Legionaries and the members of the Regnum Christi movement that they will not be left alone: the Church has the firm intention of being with them and helping them along the path of purification that lies ahead.
This will include sincerely facing up to those within the Legion and outside it who have been victims of sexual abuse and the power system put into place by the founder. To them, the Holy Father addresses his concern and his prayers, along with his gratitude to those among them who, despite great difficulties, had the courage and the constancy to demand the truth.
6. The Holy Father, in thanking the Visitators for the delicate work that they undertook with competence, generosity and profound pastoral sensitivity, said he would indicate shortly the ways in which he would provide for the Legionaries, starting with the nomination of his Delegate [to the LC] and a commission to study their constitutions.
The Holy Father will also send a Visitator to the consecrated members of Regnum Christi who have insistently requested a visitation.
7. Finally, the Holy Father renews to all the Legionaries of Christ, to their families, and to the laymen of the Regnum Christi movement, his encouragement at this time of difficulty for the Congregation and for each of them.
He calls on them not to lose sight of the fact that their vocation, which is a response to Christ's call, inspired by the ideal of bearing witness of his love to the world, is an authentic gift of God, a treasure for the Church, and the indestructible foundation on which to build their personal future as well as that of the Legion.
Pope to name papal delegate
to Legionaries and calls for reform
VATICAN CITY, May 1 (AP) -- The Vatican denounced the "immoral" double life led by the late founder of the Legionaries of Christ on Saturday and said a papal envoy and special commission would be named to overhaul the conservative order following revelations its founder sexually abused seminarians and fathered at least one child.
In a statement, the Vatican excoriated the Rev. Marciel Maciel for creating a "system of power" built on silence and obedience that enabled him to lead a double life "devoid of scruples and authentic religious sentiment" and allowed him to abuse young boys for decades unchecked.
"By pushing away and casting doubt upon all those who questioned his behavior, and the false belief that he wasn't doing harm to the good of the Legion, he created around him a defense mechanism that made him unassailable for a long period, making it difficult to know his true life," the Vatican said.
The Vatican assured the Legion's current members that it would help them "purify" what good remains in the order and would not be left alone as they undergo the "profound revision" necessary to carry on.
The Vatican issued the statement after Pope Benedict XVI met with five bishops who investigated the Legion for the past eight months, met with over 1,000 members around the world to determine its future after its founder was so thoroughly discredited.
The Pope's response is being closely watched because the Vatican is facing mounting pressure to aggressively confront abuse and provide pastoral care to victims. [EXCUSE ME! The Holy Father ordered this Apostolic Visitation more than a year ago, long before the media decided to wake up once again to the problem of sexual abuse by priests! It was not done because of any outside pressure, but entirely at Benedict XVI's initiative.]]
The Maciel case has long been seen as emblematic of Vatican inaction on abuse complaints, since Maciel's victims had tried in the 1990s to bring a canonical trial against Maciel but were shut down by his supporters at the Vatican.
In the end, it was
only in 2006 -- a year into Pope Benedict XVI's papacy -- that the Vatican ordered Maciel to lead a "reserved life of penance and prayer," making him a priest in name only.
['Only in 2006' because the CDF had to complete the investigation it only began in 2004, not because of any foot dragging!]
The Vatican statement was remarkable in its tough denunciation of Maciel's crimes and deception. It said the system of power, obedience and silence he created had kept "a large part" of the Legionaries in the dark about his double life.
That raised questions about what would become of the current Legionaries leadership since many have questioned how they couldn't have known of Maciel's misdeeds.
[Well DUH! Obviously, that is why the Pope is sending his own 'delegate' to the LC, who presumably will be the interim administrator. That is tantamount to expressing 'lack of confidence' in the current leadership, to use a parliamentary term for dismissal from office!]
The Vatican ordered an investigation in 2009 after the Legionaries acknowledged that Maciel, who died in 2008 at age 87, had fathered a daughter who is now in her 20s and lives in Spain. But it was only in March of this year that the Legionaries acknowledged that Maciel had also sexually abused seminarians and that two men are claiming to be his sons.
The late Pope John Paul II had long championed the Legionaries for their orthodoxy and ability to bring in vocations and money.
Pope Benedict to overhaul
Legion of Christ congregation
by STACY MEICHTRY
VATICAN CITY, May 1 — Pope Benedict XVI will overhaul the Legion of Christ, one of the most powerful priestly orders in Roman Catholicism, in the wake of a Vatican investigation into decades of coverups inside the order that allowed its founder to sexually abuse seminarians and father a child.
In a statement Saturday, the Vatican announced plans for Benedict XVI to appoint a special envoy and set up a commission to restructure the Legion.
The commission, the Vatican said, will rewrite the order's statutes and redefine the military-like culture, which led its members to maintain a code of secrecy in the face of sexual abuse committed by its late founder Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado.
The conduct of Father Marcial Maciel Degollado had consequences in the life and the structure of the Legion that are so serious as to require a journey of profound restructuring," the Vatican said.
The Legion couldn't be immediately reached for comment on Saturday, which was a national holiday in Italy and much of Europe. Last month, after a year-long Vatican investigation into the Legion formally concluded, the order issued a statement apologizing for the first time to Father Maciel's victims and repudiating him as a "model of Christian or priestly life."
Father Maciel died in 2008 two years after Benedict XVI ordered him to retire from active ministry and maintain a "private life of penance and prayer."
The planned overhaul of the Legion comes as Benedict XVI is under intense pressure to show his willingness to crack down on sexual abuse in the highest ranks of Catholicism. Over the years, Benedict XVI has stripped many sexually abusive priests of their ministry and met with victims in the U.S., Australia and Malta.
Critics, however, have faulted the Pope for not taking swift action against bishops and other powerful figures within the Church hierarchy who for decades allowed the abuse to occur on their watch and, in many cases, failed to alert police and other civil authorities.
The Vatican's handling of the Legion provides a rare case study of how, after decades of neglecting or ignoring abuse allegations, the Vatican is now trying to rein in powerful groups that allowed sexual abuse to occur.
Father Maciel, who founded the Legionaries in Mexico, thrived at recruiting priests and used his connections with Mexican businessmen to raise millions of dollars for the Catholic Church. That made him a favorite of the late Pope John Paul II in an era when priestly vocations began a steep decline.
Father Maciel also cultivated close ties with top Vatican officials, including Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who was then the Vatican's No. 2 official and is now the dean of the College of Cardinals. Cardinal Sodano has declined repeated interview requests and did not respond to phone calls on Saturday, which is a national holiday in Italy.
One year after his election in 2005, Benedict XVI sanctioned Father Maciel, prohibiting him from celebrating Mass in public and ordering the priest to live a life of prayer and penance. Benedict XVI also ordered an investigation
The crackdown, however, only came after years of internal struggle within the Vatican over whether to take action against the priest. In 1997, nine former Legion seminarians went public about the abuse they suffered at the hands of Father Maciel in an article in the Hartford Courant.
The decision to overhaul the Legion follows a year-long investigation into the Legion of Christ. During the investigation, five Vatican-appointed investigators, called "visitators," inspected the Legion's global network of seminaries, schools and centers for its lay movement.
The Legion has some 700 priests and 2,500 seminarians operating universities and schools in more than 20 countries from Brazil to Chile and Spain. In the U.S., it operates 21 prep schools, a start-up university in Sacramento and the U.S.'s only three seminaries for teenage boys. The Legion's lay movement, known as Regnum Christi, has more than 50,000 followers around the world.
During the investigation, the prelates gathered "incontrovertible" testimony against Father Maciel that showed "objectively immoral behavior" stemming from a "life entirely without scruples and authentic religious feeling," the Vatican said.
"Sincere zeal" among members of the order, the Vatican said, led them to believe Father Maciel was the victim of "calumny," or sinful slander. Members were "disoriented and profoundly pained" when Vatican investigators presented them with evidence of his conduct, the statement said.
The Vatican said the Legion created a "mechanism of defense" around Father Maciel to shield him from accusations and suppress damaging witnesses from reporting abuse. "It made him untouchable," the Vatican said.
The Vatican statement did not address whether the Legion's current leadership will face any sanctions.
UPDATE!
Legionaries thank the Pope
and promise obedience
The Legionaries on their multilingual website have posted the following reaction to the statement today from the Holy See:
The above heading is followed by the full text of the Vatican communique.
The Legionaries and their lay members deserve our prayers in the process of purification that they are facing, and our best wishes that they may continue their charitable apostolate in a spirit of openness and cordial relations with their local dioceses and parishes.
I also add a prayer that the various sisterhoods in the United States now under visitation may show the good faith, humility and obedience that the Legionaries have shown.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 01/05/2010 22:38]