By Rachel Donadio
The New York Times
May 1, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/world/europe/02legion.html
 |
| Pope John Paul II with the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado in 2004. Father Maciel was later found to have committed sexual abuse. Photo by Plinio Lepri/Associated Press |
ROME — Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday took control of the Legionaries of Christ, a powerful and wealthy Roman Catholic religious order whose founder, a friend of Pope John Paul II, was found to have molested seminarians and fathered several children.
The move constituted the most direct action on sexual abuse since the most recent scandals have engulfed the church and prompted criticisms of the pope’s own handling of such cases as an archbishop in Munich and as a cardinal who led the office reviewing many sexual abuse charges.
In a statement on Saturday, the Vatican said that Benedict would appoint a special delegate to govern the Legionaries, an influential worldwide order that has been an important source of new priests in a church that has struggled with a shrinking priesthood in much of the developed world. It was founded in 1941 by a Mexican priest, the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado.
Benedict also said he would appoint a special commission to examine the Legionaries’ constitution and open an investigation into its lay affiliate, Regnum Christi.
The measures mean that the order would be governed directly from the Vatican. But the pope decided against dissolving the order or forcing out much of its leadership — at least for now — steps urged by many critics and victims’ advocates, who say they believe that the leaders must have known, or should have known, of the abuses.
The fate of the Legionaries is the most closely watched case in the Catholic Church as it grapples with a sexual abuse crisis that has increased pressure on Benedict to demonstrate his commitment to confronting the issue.
Some praised the Vatican decision, but others, including former Legionaries, said that appointing a delegate did not address the fundamental problems in the current leadership, which was put in place by Father Maciel. The Vatican statement was ambiguous about the role of the current leaders in Father Maciel’s deception, and also about their fate.
“The question is whether everything is still on the table in terms of the future, or is the underlying assumption that the present Legion of Christ can be repaired?” said George Weigel, a biographer of John Paul who had defended the Legionaries before learning of Father Maciel’s crimes. “I don’t see how the good work that the Legion and Regnum Christi do can continue without a definitive and unambiguous break with the past.”
Jose Barba Martin, the leader of a group of former Legionaries who complained to the Vatican in 1998 that they had been sexually abused as boys, said the appointment of an outsider to administer the order would do little good unless the church also replaced many officials in the upper echelon and rewrote the teachings of the group that stress obedience to superiors and silence about internal problems.
“What’s needed is a psychological restructuring,” said Mr. Barba, a history professor in Mexico City. “If the same directors remain, it’s going to be very difficult.”
The Rev. Alberto Athie, a Mexican priest who in 1998 tried to bring allegations of sexual abuse by Father Maciel to the attention of Benedict, back when he was a cardinal, said the Holy See had been aware of the order’s strict code of silence and obedience and had done nothing about it.
“In this sense I think the Holy See cannot get to the bottom of this matter,” Father Athie said. “It would have to criticize itself as an authority.”
Others praised Benedict’s decision and said the Vatican statement left open the possibility of new leadership for the order.
“Many of us are deeply satisfied with the depth and scope of what is laid out in the Vatican response,” said the Rev. Thomas V. Berg, a prominent former Legion priest. “I think it bodes well for the well being of the Legionaries who remain.”
He added that “the wording of the statement certainly leaves open the possibility of removing the current leadership, and many of us await that and expect that to happen.”
Sandro Magister, a veteran Vatican reporter who has written extensively on the Legionaries, said he was struck by the “tough” tone of the statement. “It’s a sign that they want to act decisively,” he said. “This statement is also very hard on the current leaders of the legionaries.”
The Maciel case has become a touchstone for how Benedict has confronted sexual abuse. Benedict’s defenders cite it as an example that he took sexual abuse more seriously than others in the Vatican hierarchy did. But victims’ advocates say that he waited far too long to address it and that penalties were insufficient.
In 1998, eight Legionaries seminarians filed a complaint with the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The pope, who was then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and the head of the body, quashed an investigation in 1999, according to accounts from a Mexican bishop who tried to press the case with him. In 2004, a few months before John Paul died, the future pope reopened the investigation. It eventually found that Father Maciel had abused seminarians, fathered several children and misappropriated funds.
In 2006, Benedict removed him from priestly duties and restricted him to a life of prayer and penance — a punishment that his victims say was not commensurate to his crimes. He died two years later, still a priest.
The measures the pope announced Saturday came after an exhaustive investigation of the order and Father Maciel’s crimes by five bishops who formed what is called an Apostolic Visitation and who submitted their report on March 15. The Vatican has said it wants to be transparent in sexual abuse cases, but the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the report’s findings would not be made public.
Jim Fair, a spokesman for the Legionaries in North America, said: “We thank the Holy Father and embrace the provisions with faith and obedience. We appreciate the hard work and dedication of the apostolic visitators, and we’re grateful for the prayers of so many people who have supported us at this time.”
The Vatican statement said that Father Maciel had kept his double life hidden from most Legionaries by creating a system of power that allowed him to silence his critics. The Vatican also assailed “the most serious and objectively immoral behavior of Father Maciel, confirmed by incontrovertible witnesses, which amount to true crimes and show a life deprived of scruples and authentic religious feeling.”
The announcement came a day after Benedict made a brief appearance at a meeting at the Vatican with the five bishops who investigated the case; the secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone; and members of other Vatican departments.
Critics have said the order’s current leaders must have known about Father Maciel’s misdeeds. But the Rev. Luis Garza Medina, the order’s No. 2, or vicar general, said in an interview last week with the newspaper La Repubblica that he was not aware of the abuse until after Father Maciel was punished in 2006. “It was difficult to understand that there might be such immoral and aberrant actions on his part,” he said.
In the statement released Saturday, the Vatican said, “The Holy Father intends to reassure all the Legionaries and the members of the Regnum Christi movement that they will not be left alone: that the church has the firm commitment to accompany them and help them in the path toward purification that awaits them.”
That, Juan Vaca said, is little comfort for him and Father Maciel’s other victims.
“They don’t say anything about all the harm, about how they treated us like liars,” said Mr. Vaca, a professor of sociology and psychology at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. “I have my dreams completely shattered.”
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.