Pope Benedict XVI and the Legion of Christ, E.D. Kain, April 8, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI and the Legion of Christ

E.D. Kain
April 8, 2010

http://trueslant.com/erikkain/2010/04/08/pope-benedict-xvi-and-the-legion-of-christ/

There is a twin-narrative emerging amidst the many revelations of sexual abuse and cover-up within the Catholic Church. On the one hand we are gaining an ever clearer picture of just how widespread both the abuse was and how deep-rooted the cover-up went, both on the parts of bishops, but also on the part of the Vatican itself, and especially amongst some members of the hierarchy within the Vatican. On the other hand, we are beginning to understand the role played by Cardinal Ratzinger – the man who would be Pope Benedict XVI, and the man at the very epicenter of efforts to reform the Church and rid it of both the pedophiles and those who would protect and profit from them.

Contrary to many reactionary opinion pieces linking Benedict to the sexual scandals themselves, articles such as this excellent investigative report by Jason Berry of the National Catholic Reporter, suggest that far from being a part of the cover-up of the terrifying sexual abuse scandal surrounding Fr. Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ, Benedict (both as pope and as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) not only refused the Legion’s money, but also acted against the wishes of his predecessor John Paul II and his advisors and struck out on his own to begin an investigation into the Legion and specifically into Maciel himself. Indeed, just one week after John Paul II had entrusted the Legion with the administration of Jerusalem’s Notre Dame Center (and after many other instances wherein the former pontiff heaped praise on Maciel and his organization) then Cardinal Ratzinger authorized his own investigation into Maciel. Shortly after Ratzinger became pope he banished Maciel outright, and stepped up the Vatican’s efforts to investigate the Legion.

In 2001, Ratzinger – after years of being hamstrung in his efforts to investigate reports of sexual abuse in the church – pressured Pope John Paul II to consolidate authority to investigate all reports of sexual abuse within in the Church in Ratzinger’s office – the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith or CDF. According to Berry,

The Vatican office with the greatest potential to derail Maciel’s career before 2001 — the year that Ratzinger persuaded John Paul to consolidate authority of abuse investigations in his office – was the Congregation for Religious, which oversaw religious orders such as the Dominicans, Franciscans and Legionaries, among many others.

Over the years Maciel was able to buy off the support of the various heads of the Congregation for the Religious, as well as many of John Paul II’s confidantes, and in particular Msgr. Dziwisz, John Paul’s secretary and ‘closest confidante’ who Maciel used to gain access to the pope and also to funnel a great deal of money to the movers and shakers within the Vatican. Not all Vatican insiders accepted Maciel’s money, however:

One cardinal who rebuffed a Legion financial gift was Joseph Ratzinger.

In 1997 he gave a lecture on theology to Legionaries. When a Legionary handed him an envelope, saying it was for his charitable use, Ratzinger refused. “He was tough as nails in a very cordial way,” a witness said.

The narrative is still emerging, as I noted above, but here is how it is unfolding:

As sexual abuse cases were coming to light in greater frequency in the 1990’s, then Cardinal Ratzinger had very little oversight of the abuse scandals.

His office was in charge of other crimes – particularly crimes carried out in the confessional, which is why his office was contacted in regards to the American pedophile priest Fr. Murphy who molested deaf boys for years and whose crimes were covered up by three subsequent arch-bishops before being brought to light by the media. Murphy was purported to have carried out his acts in the confessional and this was the sole reason his case was brought to Ratzinger after over three decades of cover-up in the Milwaukee diocese where he was stationed.

In newly translated documents, Ratzinger’s deputy and Secretary of the CDF, Cardinal Bertone, expresses dismay at the number of years it has taken for the Milwaukee bishops to come forward with the information and at the difficulty in pursuing action against Murphy after so much time has passed and so much evidence has been lost. (For more on this, see Jimmy Akin.)

In any case, Ratzinger had very little control over the vast majority of sexual abuse cases because he was not in charge of overseeing their investigations. So he pressured John Paul II to change this and to consolidate control in the CDF which Ratzinger headed. This happened in 2001, and from that time Ratzinger began the process of reforming how the Church handled such cases, and began to circumvent the ‘old guard’ of Vatican insiders who wanted to keep the status quo of cover-ups and hush money in place – such as Cardinal Sodano, Vatican Secretary of State, a man heavily influenced by Maciel’s money, and Dziwisz, confidante to John Paul II.

It is a complicated story, no doubt, and there is a great deal more to tell and a great deal more we will end up hearing on the matter, but one thing is increasingly certain: Ratzinger became pope knowing full well that his papacy would be devoted to ridding the Church of both sexual abuse and the cover-ups which allow them to continue. He is surrounded by those who were complicit in these crimes, who are seeking even now to undermine his efforts. This includes members of the Legion of Christ, but also those with ties to the Legion and with ties specifically to Fr. Marcial Maciel. One has to wonder, after all, at Cardinal Sodano’s recent defense of Benedict, and whether there isn’t a little poison in his words when he likens Benedict’s struggles to that of the controversial Pope Pius XII and his alleged inaction during the Holocaust.

(Contra Andrew Sullivan who writes:

Benedict XVI knew all of this. To his credit, he was clearly troubled by it, and never accepted its compromising money. But given the authority to pursue Maciel in 2001, Ratzinger held off for four years until Maciel’s protector, John Paul II, was incapacitated and near death. Which means to say: Ratzinger knew what had gone on, and allowed a clear molester and bigamist to remain a pillar of John Paul II’s church for years.

I think it is far more likely that Ratzinger acted as quickly and as prudently as he could given the many obstacles preventing any swift action against Maciel. Some things simply take time, especially in an organization such as the Church, and with the sort of protections afforded Maciel by John Paul II under the influence of his advisors. Far from a reason to continue to call for Benedict’s resignation, this information should illuminate just how thankful we should all be that Ratzinger became pope. Indeed, many resignations are in order, but Benedict’s is not one of them.)