Renew America
Matt C. Abbott
December 20, 2004
In response to my previous column on the Legionaries of Christ controversy, I received the following e-mail from journalist Jason Berry, co-author of the book 'Vows of Silence':
"I would like to counter an impression your readers may have regarding Father Marcial Maciel in the book that Gerald Renner and I published, 'Vows of Silence.'
"You noted that the Legion website [www.legionaryfacts.org] refers to 'false allegations against Father Maciel, the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi to distort the record of Pope John Paul II and undermine his teachings.'
"The Legion's disinformation strategy suggests that in order to discredit Pope John Paul II (God bless him), two seasoned journalists, both Catholics, would spend years of research to promote false charges. Two hard facts are at the center of the book.
"1) In 1976 a priest who left the Legion, with his bishop's support, sent documents to Rome, accusing Maciel of abusing himself and other seminarians. A second priest, and ex-Legionary, vouched to Rome that he too was abused by Maciel. The Vatican did nothing then, nor as accusations widened when other men came forward in later years.