BishopAccountability.org
 
  Fr. Maciel and the Future of the Legion of Christ

Deal W. Hudson
February 11, 2009

http://dealwhudson.typepad.com/deal_w_hudson/2009/02/fr-maciel-and-the-future-of-the-legion-of-christ.html

I agree with Marjorie Campbell that the Legion of Christ will survive the revelations, both recent and past, about the founder, Fr. Maciel.

I am told by those who know that the member of the Legion are devastated, but I am also told that the international network of donors and supporters are going to remain loyal to the work, albeit with the demand for greater transparency going forward.

There are many in the Catholic world, some who are bloggers or print journalists, who have had their knives out for the Legion for quite a long tme. I don't know their all their reasons -- I do know good people who have had what they describe as bad experience with the Legion and Regnum Christi. They have told me about various objectionable practises, such as the targeting the children of wealthy children for fundraising purposes.

Nothing I have heard could offset my experience of the many wonderful people I have met through the Legion and Regnum Chisti, or the work of I have seen them do, especially in education, across our country. And their record in vocations is one of the remarkable achievements of any Catholic congregations in the post-Vatican II era.

One financial supporter of the Legion told me a few days ago that he thought it was one of God's mysteries "why so much good was done through the life of a flawed man" like Fr. Maciel. And then he added, and I agree, "but aren't we all flawed to some degree."

 
 

Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.