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	Priest Speaks on Maciel, Legion of Christ By Matt C. Abbott Renew America February 1, 2008 http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/080201 I asked Father James Farfaglia, a priest of the Corpus Christi, Tex., Catholic diocese and a former member of the Legionaries of Christ, to comment on the death of Father Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries. Father Farfaglia graciously provided me with the following statement. 'Matt has asked me to comment on the death of Father Marcial Maciel, L.C. After some prayerful consideration, I would like to say the following: I am a former member of the Legionaries of Christ. My years in the Congregation were very happy ones and I am very grateful for the formation that I received. I could never be doing what I am doing now as a priest without the valuable experience I received from the Legionaries. 'During my years in the Legionary seminaries I never once saw any misconduct. In fact, I was always surrounded by very holy men who were always exemplary priests and religious. When I was in the Congregation I did live among some very saintly men. During my earlier years with the Legionaries, I did have considerable contact with the founder. His example, his writings and his conferences were always very inspiring. 'Are the allegations against Father Maciel true or are they false? I do not know. However, I do know that Pope Benedict would never act the way he did without real, concrete evidence about the founder. In my years outside of the Congregation I have come across a few people who have said things that would indicate that minimally some of the allegations are true and that the founder really did have a problem. If even some of the allegations are true, I find it terribly upsetting that such a problem could exist in such an organization that professes such deep fidelity to Our Lord and His Church. If any of the allegations are true, then I really feel that I have been lied to and fooled for so many years. If any or all of the allegations are true, then there is a huge amount of corruption in the Church which goes farther than any of us can fathom. 'Aside from what the founder did and did not do, there are real problems that the Legionaries do need to fix. First of all, they need to stop claiming that the founder is totally innocent and that he is another Padre Pio. The present members of the Congregation should be asking questions. There should be a self-analysis of what they are doing and where they are going as a religious order. Just to claim that the founder is another Padre Pio and continue business as usual, in my opinion, is a real mistake. 'Secondly, the Legionaries, as an organization, need to live up to what the founder always talked about; i.e., to be at the service of the Church. The growth and success of the Congregation has caused it to become self-serving. Too much emphasis is placed on money and growth. Their literature should focus more on Jesus rather than good-looking seminarians. 'The way the Legionaries of Christ deals with members who have decided to leave their ranks is disgusting. Too many former members have left with little or no money to start their lives over again; too many former members have been left out in the cold with no degrees and no paper work. This, on the part of the Superiors of the Congregation, is a total lack of Christian charity which God will not bless. 'Critics of the Congregation can best understand the problems of the organization by looking to Mexico. This is how I understand the situation. Mexico is a very beautiful country with great people who are fervent Catholics and who love life. However, anyone who has lived in Mexico will understand how things get done in Mexico. Hypocrisy, corruption and lying are an endemic part of the Mexican culture. Every country has its good points and its bad points. Mexico has a way of doing things: the end always justifies the means. In my book, this is the problem with the Legion of Christ. The leadership of the Congregation is comprised of Mexican priests and the majority of the members of the organization come from Mexico. This is not to say that every Legionary from Mexico is corrupt. However, the Mexican members of the Congregation should be very aware of the deficiencies of their own culture and not fall into an arrogance that will wind up destroying the good that the Congregation does do. 'With the death of Father Maciel, the Legion of Christ has an excellent opportunity to look at itself very carefully. The Church is in dire need of good and holy priests who are faithful and apostolic. The Legion of Christ now has an opportunity to make the Legion be the Legion of Christ and not the Legion of Father Maciel. If the Congregation is honest and humble enough to make the changes that need to be made, they will be a valuable help to the Church. If they continue to do business as usual, they will become ineffective and a great obstacle to the evangelization efforts of the Church. 'I hope that with the death of the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, his critics will bury their hatred and move on. I hope that the Legionaries will be what their founder intended them to be. There is a lot of good there, and I hope that Pope Benedict will help them do the right thing. There is a lot to do for the Church. Personally, I am going to keep moving forward and do what I can do in these very difficult times.'
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