Legionaries. the Young Vicar and the Restless Virgins

The Chiesa
February 23, 2012

http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350181?eng=y


ROME, February 23, 2012 – For one week, a new man has been at the head of the Legionaries of Christ. He is young, only 36 years old. He is German, from Bavaria. He belongs to the noble lineage of the van Zuydtwyck. He has a brother who is a religious, and a sister who is a consecrated virgin. His parents testified for him in St. Peter's Square, in the pope's presence, on the eve of the closing of the Year for Priests, on June 10, 2010.

His name is Sylvester Heereman. He is the new vicar general of the Legion, in the role that previously belonged to Father Luis Garza Medina, the most powerful of the close collaborators and then successors of the infamous founder Marcial Maciel.

The appointment came unexpectedly, on February 16, with a statement from Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, the pontifical delegate to whom Benedict XVI has given full powers in order to avert the downfall of the Legion and of the associated lay movement Regnum Christi, with its hundreds of consecrated men and women.

Together with Fr. Heereman, Cardinal De Paolis has promoted to the top of the Legion another priest who was also outside of Maciel's circle, Father Deomar De Guedes Vaz, 51, a Brazilian.

When, during the last years of the founder's life, his incontrovertible offenses came to light, both of them were among those most determined to distance themselves. And when the Holy See put the entire Legion under investigation, they were among those most open in responding to the questioning of the apostolic visitors.

At the summit of the Legion, De Guedes has taken the place of another of Maciel's cronies, Father Francisco Mateos Gil, a Spaniard.

Mateos was for years the "nuncio" of the director general of the congregation, for schools and universities. The nuncios in the Legion imitated the role that the pope's ambassadors exercise all over the world. But in fact, with much more extensive powers. They were the director's spies, but even more so of vicar general Garza, whose commands they communicated. Now there are no more nuncios. Cardinal De Paolis has also dismantled this network of power and intelligence.

Following these changes, the leadership of the Legion is now as follows:

Director general:

Alvaro Corcuera Martinez del Rio

Vicar general:

Sylvester Heereman

General councilors

Deomar De Guedes Vaz

Michael Ryan

Joseph Burtka

Adjunct councilors:

Juan Jose Arrieta

Jesus Villagrasa

Administrator general:

Eduardo Vigneaux

The two adjunct councilors were also put in place, in January of 2011, by Cardinal De Paolis, to whom the entire leadership of the Legion is therefore subject in everything.

Of the old guard that took office in 2005, when Maciel was still alive, the ones still in their posts are director general Corcuera, a Mexican, the councilors Ryan, an Irishman, and Burtka, an American, and the administrator general Vigneaux, a Chilean.

Of these, Ryan and Vigneaux are still very closely connected to Garza, who in spite of having been exiled to the United States and deprived of control of the Legion's assets continues to be greatly feared.

Even Corcuera is under the illusion of being irremovable, thanks to the bond that he has woven at the Vatican with Bishop Josef Clemens, the current secretary of the pontifical council for the laity and Joseph Ratzinger's personal secretary when he was a cardinal.

But their fate is sealed. Garza also believed he was sure to remain in his post, until just a few days before his removal. Cardinal De Paolis proceeds at a snail's pace, but he is inexorable.

As demonstrated by the unexpected promotion to leadership of two new men like Heereman and De Guedes.

And as also demonstrated by the measures taken by De Paolis on the same day with regard to the consecrated men and women of Regnum Christi.

*

Here, especially among the consecrated women, there is a feverish disquiet. Out of about 800, almost half have already gone, in greater numbers than among the priests and male religious.

Recently a particular uproar was created by events surrounding their assistant general, Malen Oriol Munoz, from a wealthy Spanish family and with with four brothers, all priests, who left the Legion one after the other in recent months.

Under the rules in effect until a few days ago, the consecrated women of Regnum Christi were subjected to the Legion. They reported to the vicar general, which for a long time meant in practice to Father Garza. But it was precisely this dependence that was stifling for many of them, all the more so after the devastation that exploded from the Maciel scandal.

Many of them, therefore, intended and still intend to live their vows under the authority not of the Legion, but of the local bishops, in new forms. They say they have communicated this intention of theirs to Benedict XVI, and and have received his "support and blessing."

Malen Oriol is also tempted by this exodus. Last October, she presented to the director general of the Legionaries her resignation from the post of assistant general. She presented it again on January 24 to Cardinal De Paolis.

"I am waiting for his response," she wrote to her fellow sisters in a letter sent last February 12 and reproduced in its entirety further below.

So then, the response came three days later, on February 15, with another letter, long and detailed, addressed by Cardinal De Paolis to the consecrated men and women of Regnum Christi:

> "After completing his visitation..."

In this letter, De Paolis accepts the resignation of Malen Oriol from the position of assistant general, but beseeches her to remain in Regnum Christi, and together with her the others who are impatient to go elsewhere.

Above all, however, the pontifical delegate revolutionizes the rules of Regnum Christi, on the basis, he writes, of the results of the apostolic visitation conducted there as well after the one in the Legion, and of the discussions held on several occasions with consecrated men and women in Mexico, Brazil, and Rome.

From now on – writes Cardinal De Paolis – the vicar general of the Legion ceases to have authority over the consecrated men and women.

And the positions of assistant general for the two female and male branches are also being retired. So no one is replacing Malen Oriol.

The consecrated men and women will have as authorities of reference two assistants of the pontifical delegate, Father Agostino Montan and Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda.

As for the structure of the two communities, the model for now will be that of a simple "association of the faithful."

Any connection with the Legion of Christ is suspended "for the moment." It could be discussed again in the future, when the spirituality and apostolate of both the congregation and of Regnum Christi have been redefined.

For now, "the consecrated men and women must have a healthy autonomy, and this implies that it be an associative reality with its own subjectivity."

This letter from Cardinal De Paolis caused a genuine earthquake among the consecrated women.

Some of them still want to transfer, but don't know where and how. Others intend to stay in Regnum Christi, awaiting the developments. Malen Oriol herself is unsure.

It is a feverish agitation that is felt in a particular way in the mother house of the consecrated women of Regnum Christi all over the world: a former convent of nuns on the Via della Giustiniana, which stands next to one of two prestigious bilingual schools (in Italian and English) managed in Rome by the consecrated women of Regnum Christi, the Irish Institute (the other is the Highlands Institute, in the EUR district).

__________

"THE FACTORS THAT INDUCE ME TO MAKE THESE DECISIONS..."

From: Oriol Malen

Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2012

To: DG 3GF

CC: Corcuera Alvaro LC; Garza Medina Luis LC

Subject: Notes and prayers

Your kingdom come!

Dearest consecrated women,

I would like to draw close to each one of you and comment with sincerity on what has happened in my regard.

Only God knows, and to Him I give account before you, the tireless desire that has always driven me to help each one of you and the women's level three [3GF], seeking to walk along the path of love, of understanding, and of truth, especially in these last few years, so mysterious and unexpected.

The events of recent weeks, as almost all of you already know, have brought among us various information, rumors, and, I would dare say, judgments and suspicions that have not always been a matter of speculation. It is because of this that I would like to present what I consider the facts, for the sole purpose of clarification, without any desire for self-preservation, justification, or partiality.

In these recent years, there has been an increase in the number of consecrated women who have left the 3GF: some of them because of proper vocational discernment; others, after learning about our history and about the life of the founder. To all this have been added other consecrated women who have demonstrated a shallowness in their consecration in the face of the internal renewal process of Regnum Christi [RC].

Some consecrated women, wanting to continue their consecration, have demonstrated to the Holy Father their desire to unite under the authority of a bishop with the decision to live their consecration in responding to the call of God in their hearts. It was their desire to ask for the advice of the Holy Father before proceeding, in such a way as to follow the right path, knowing also that the process that RC is following is also subject to his pontifical delegate. The Holy Father has sent to them, through the ecclesial authority, his support and blessing for this initiative.

This reality does not exclude, and does not even clash with, those who continue on the current path of renewal of the 3GF of RC, and live it in peace, with trust and freedom. The various convictions have been, are, and I believe must be respected, welcomed, and worthy of faith. To disqualify or condemn some of these is to assume an authority that only God and the personal conscience possess.

Why be afraid? Could this be an opportunity for each one of us, and for all of us, to have the possibility to follow the path that the Lord reveals in our hearts? Can we unite our efforts to conform ourselves, all of us, to this Church that is so beloved and about which we have often spoken, and in which all have their place and to which they can bring their best? Must it be a dream that there be respect, prayer, support, and Christian love on the part of all and for all?

I am reminded of the words of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, 3:4-5: "When someone says, 'I belong to Paul,' and another, 'I belong to Apollos,' do you not show yourselves to be merely men? What is Apollos? What is Paul? Ministers through whom you have come to the faith, each as the Lord has granted to him."

What a great distinction, that from our [lives] can come more life to be added to the ranks of so many who seek to love God in the Church, to the service of human beings, as consecrated women!

For my part, you know the personal letter of October 29, 2011 in which I manifested to all of you the fact that I had presented my resignation as assistant to the director general. Publicly, last January 24 in Rome I reconfirmed it, asking for it directly from Cardinal De Paolis and his council. I am waiting for their response. As for the rest, I need time, prayer, and detachment in order to discover the will of God for me. In some moments it has been said that the reason for this personal request was the result of exhaustion, of having been overwhelmed by what I had lived through or something else; I immediately hasten to clarify that I have great peace about the factors that induce me to make these decisions, they go beyond myself and God alone has placed them in my heart.

I know that God carries salvation history as well as our lives, that of all and of each one of us, and it is this same Lord who has begun this work and will carry it to a good conclusion.

Let us remain united in consecration and in the Church, sure that with God the best is yet to come.

Sincere courage for all, and let us continue to help each other for the definitive encounter in heaven. I sincerely thank each one of you for your great charity, example of dedication, testimony of generosity and love, humility, and sacrifice . . . God, who knows everything, will reward you.

I ask forgiveness for the suffering and harm that, without intending it, I may have caused or may be causing on account of all my errors, limitations, and bad examples, for not having been able to help and understand all of you. I am sure that the merciful God will heal everything and shed his light on each one of you, so that you may continue on your journey following Christ and holiness.

You can always count on me, especially in prayer, and I remember before Mary Most Holy, the best of mothers, the one who keeps all of us in her womb, and is the Mother of hope. Pray for me, I need it so much, and you, better than anyone, have had the confirmation of this. An embrace for each one, with all the affection of one who is your sister and servant in Christ,

Malen Oriol M.