The Holy See and the Legionaries of Christ: Facts and Fiction
di Massimo Introvigne
After ten years of controversies, the Holy See acted on the case of Father Marcial Maciel – founder but after 2005 no longer Superior General – of the religious order of the Legionaries of Christ. Father Maciel had been accused of sexual abuses, most of them dating back to the 1950s, by several ex-Legionaries, while others have testified that money had been offered to them to confirm what they regard as false accusations against Father Maciel. It is worth noting that the accusers, although part of a subculture infested by lawyers ready to seek millionaire damages from the Catholic Church in any case of real or alleged abuses, never tested their case in a secular court. They were well aware that they would have been thrown out of court, together with their clockwork stories of abuses “remembered” after so many years.
However, what would never fly in a secular court may still cause trouble and concern within the Roman Catholic Church. Hence the document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. Considering the age and health of Father Maciel, and no doubt also the fact that not even an ecclesiastical court would have been able to reconstruct facts dating back to decades ago, the Congregation – while avoiding any statement about the facts – “invited the father to a reserved life of penitence and prayer, relinquishing any form of public ministry”, at the same time emphasizing that “the worthy apostolate of the Legionaries of Christ and of the Association 'Regnum Christi' is gratefully recognized”.
The ways of the Church are not the ways of the tribunals of men. In the latter, Father Maciel’s foes would have been easily ridiculed. The Church, however, cannot afford even the shadow of a doubt about a religious leader which has inspired the life of millions. When in doubt, secular courts pronounce a verdict of not guilty. When in doubt, the Church – without issuing any statement on the facts – always acts with extreme caution. Even Father Pio, later canonized as a Saint, was immediately sanctioned when doubts were cast on certain of his financial transactions. The Lord and history will judge in due course. The Church regards as its sacred duty to act with the most extreme caution, as painful as this may occasionally be.
This being the case, it is also important to note what the document of the Holy See does not say. Since Father Maciel has not been tried, it is false to say that he has been found guilty. Precautionary measures should not be confused with a verdict rendered after a trial where Father Maciel would have been able to present a full defense. Nor did the Holy See give any stamp of approval to the various lurid exposes of Father Maciel and the Legionaries of Christ. The press release does not imply in any way that what these books say about Father Maciel is true. These books attacks Father Maciel in order to attack the Legionaries of Christ, their theology, their apologetics, their schools and their universities. Most definitely this is not the position of the Vatican document, where the “worthy apostolate” of the Legionaries is on the contrary “gratefully recognized”.
Additionally, those campaigning against the Legionaries (as well as against the Opus Dei and other groups branded as “conservative”) argue that, in order to avoid ecclesiastical scandals, the Church should change its doctrines about celibate priests, abortion, homosexuality, and feminism. Obviously the position of Pope Benedict XVI is exactly the opposite. The very fact that the Church, in its own mysterious ways, acts with extreme caution in cases of alleged offences against chastity or even suspicions about past offences involving prominent Church leaders, in some cases by adopting painful cautionary measures against some of its most loyal and faithful sons, is a strong and firm statement against the moral relativism embraced by the Legionaries’ enemies. The common sense of the Catholic people, as usual, perceives it in a much better way than the media. Legionaries, Opus Dei and other groups loyal to Pope Benedict’s campaign against relativism prosper, while liberal organizations lose members every day, some of them being on the very verge of disappearing.
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COMMUNIQUE CONCERNING FOUNDER OF LEGIONARIES OF CHRIST
VATICAN CITY, MAY 19, 2006 (VIS) - With reference to recent news concerning the person of Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, the Holy See Press Office released the following communique:
"Beginning in 1998, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith received accusations, already partly made public, against Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, for crimes that fall under the exclusive competence of the congregation. In 2002, Fr. Maciel published a declaration denying the accusations and expressing his displeasure at the offence done him by certain former Legionaries of Christ. In 2005, by reason of his advanced age, Fr. Maciel retired from the office of superior general of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ.
"All these elements have been subject to a mature examination by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and - in accordance with the Motu Proprio 'Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela,' promulgated on April 30 2001 by Servant of God John Paul II - the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, authorized an investigation into the accusations. In the meantime, Pope John II died and Cardinal Ratzinger was elected as the new Pontiff.
"After having attentively studied the results of the investigation, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under the guidance of the new prefect, Cardinal William Joseph Levada, decided - bearing in mind Fr. Maciel's advanced age and his delicate health - to forgo a canonical hearing and to invite the father to a reserved life of penitence and prayer, relinquishing any form of public ministry. The Holy Father approved these decisions.
"Independently of the person of the Founder, the worthy apostolate of the Legionaries of Christ and of the Association 'Regnum Christi' is gratefully recognized."
Punti fermi sui Legionari di Cristo, di Massimo Introvigne
