Rome must respect its own laws

October 2011   The Apostolic Visitation of the Regnum Christi movement - the lay off-shoot of the Legionaries of Christ order - has just been concluded.  Such a major investigation is usually carried out only in grave circumstances, when the Vatican suspects or has proof of, serious deviation within a religious congregation or association in the Church.  In this case it was the overwhelming evidence of, according to a Vatican communique issued in 2010,  'the very serious and objectively immoral behaviour of Father Maciel [the Mexican founder of Regnum Christi and the Legionaries of Christ, which] sometimes resulted in actual crimes, and manifests a life devoid of scruples and of genuine religious sentiment.'


For years, the Vatican swept aside well-documented accusations from former priests and seminarians of the Legionaries who claimed to have been sexually abused by Maciel.  Not only did these prove to be well-founded, but it was also established that he had fathered children by at least two women, while masquerading as the saintly Founder of the order. (See Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II by Jason Berry and Gerald Renner)   Maciel's chief protector was John Paul II who was a great admirer of the priest and his traditionalist order and lay association.  Benedict XVI, who as Cardinal Ratzinger headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to whom the complaints had been addressed, was fully aware of the serious accusations and the compelling evidence to back them up but took no action during John Paul's lifetime.  Apparently offending the Pope or his favourites outweighed the horrific wrongs that had been done to generations of boys and young men who had joined the Legionaries of Christ in good faith.  Clearly it was felt that the good done by these organisations outweighed any wrong-doing and there was a danger of harming their reputation.  To give Benedict his due, one of his first actions in office was to take action against Maciel personally and later to authorise the Apostolic Visitations of the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi.  


Given the gravity of the accusations and the publicity they had received - particularly through the book Vows of Silence - and the high profile of the Legionaries and its close association with the late Pontiff, Rome could hardly justify delaying such an investigation any longer.  Furthermore since this particular scandal involved the abuse of children, an issue which has convulsed the Church worldwide and severely damaged the Church's credibility, it had to be addressed sooner or later.  Other New Catholic Movements have also been the subject of complaints to Rome, often from authoritative figures such as local bishops, but, as they concerned less controversial and high-profile issues such as divisions in parishes and families , alleged brain-washing, secrecy, unreasonable demands for money etc., it was easier for Rome to sweep them under the carpet and indeed pressurise the local churches into accepting the Movements.  It would be fascinating to see what aberrations a Vatican enquiry would unearth in these other organisations.  One complaint that was levelled at Regnum Christi by the Apostolic Visitation, for example, was that superiors pressurised members into manifesting their consciences, that is into revealing secrets that properly belong in the context of confession.  This is in direct contravention of article 630 of Canon Law which states that 'Superiors...are forbidden in any way to induce the members to make a manifestation of conscience to themselves'. In my experience this was the norm in the Focolare Movement and indeed, in the process of leaving the movement I was expected to do so with a number of authority figures to my considerable distress.  In a more recent case, a member of Focolare who confessed to a superior that he had homosexual experiences in the past was summoned before a kind of kangaroo court at the Centre of the Movement in Rome and bombarded with questions on the nature of his sexual feelings and temptations.  I have heard from members of the Neocatechumenate that this kind of public examination on intimate matters of conscience is commonplace.


It would be interesting to put together a dossier of just how common this practice is within the New Movements and I would welcome any experiences that former members would be willing to share. Identities would, of course, be safeguarded where necessary.