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  Detroit Priest: Archdiocese 'A Thousand Times More Corrupt Than' Legion of Christ

By Matt C. Abbott
Renew America
February 5, 2008

http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/080205

I received the following e-mail from Father Paul Ward, associate pastor of Assumption Grotto Catholic Church in Detroit.

    'I don't know who you are, but I keep getting people who send me links to your articles, and each one is better than the previous. I wish to offer you high praise for Father Farfaglia's article on the Legion of Christ. I, too, had been a member, thrown out of the Legion for reasons still not told to me, after fifteen years of faithful and fruitful religious life. How it happened was very bad, but that it happened was a great boon.

    'I'm now a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit, which is a thousand times more corrupt than the Legion, but as the archdiocese is not a religious order, I have more leeway to pursue a priestly life faithful to Rome, to the Church's teachings, and after the writings of so many great saints on the priestly life. I could never have put it so well, with the prefect balance of honesty and truth yet charity, as Father Farfaglia has done. I actually know Father James: When I was a young religious he and I coincided for a time in the LC center in Orange, Conn. I have nothing but good things to say about Father James.'

Father Ward is far more complimentary than "Joe" (not a priest), of Westbrook, Conn., who sent me the following e-mail in response to Father Farfaglia's statement:

    'Your smears against the name of Father Maciel are calumny. Journalistically, you circulate lies and rumors without a shred of evidence. Your attempt to smear the Legionaries of Christ in this hour of grieving reveals a corruption in your heart which betrays any sense of Catholic journalism's desperate need for valor.

    'Our Lord would not bless the Legionaries of Christ the way He does if your calculated charges had a shred of truth to them. If you even had an inkling of understanding of the great spiritual grace which inhabited Father Maciel's heart and the loving and gentle way he taught the Legionaries to meet resistance, you could never make allegations such as the generalized, unsubstantiated rumors you present as journalism.

    'Know full well, Mr. Abbott, the Legionaries of Christ could not be more Christ centered in their apostolic work. Know full well, that attacks such as yours only serve to strengthen the vocations of men who know the truth.

    'Like the secularists of old Mexico who killed Catholics in the days of beloved Father Maciel's youth, your example of modern Catholic journalism will serve to arouse an even stronger witness to Christ's embrace of the cross of our sins as a witness to His unconditional love for us.

    'You chose not to witness to the countless examples of Christ's love gleaming through the priests and lay people which form such a tribute to Father Maciel's memory but, instead you leap at the chance to circulate tired, unsubstantiated rumors.

    'May you find a confessional, fast, Mr. Abbott, and beg God's mercy and forgiveness and for your penance may you say the Litany of Humility which we said today to celebrate our beloved Father Maciel's beautiful gift. A gift of his life, freely given, which our Lord sent forth to transform our culture and a gift which will animate the compassion and love for priestly and lay service for generations to come.'
March of Dimes

Reader Laura Cullnane sent me the following e-mail:

    'I just wanted to thank you for [Randy Engel's] A-Z article [regarding the March of Dimes]. I received a pledge card in the mail today from a neighbor who agreed to send out letters to people in our neighborhood. I will not support the MOD, and I printed out your entire article to hand back to her, hoping that God will use it to open her eyes to this evil organization and encourage her to never again help them in any way. Thank you.

    'I am a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. When I was 36, I was pregnant with our fourth child. The new doctor I was using wanted me to have an amnio. I asked why. He said that way we would know if there were any problems with the baby. I asked him what if there were? I asked him if he did abortions. He said he did not but knew of some clinics in Indianapolis. I told him to forget the amnio test. Whatever God decided to give me was just fine — a child with an eternal soul. Well, he was just fine and is a wonderful 21-year-old son today! (I even had a beautiful daughter when I was 39!) The MOD needs to get back to the Bible! Thanks again!'
  
 
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