I don’t know much about Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore, Maryland, but I do know that he took a wise course of action when he decided to reign in the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi in his diocese:
Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore, Maryland, has sent a “letter of understanding” to Father Alvaro Corcuera, the superior general of the Legionaries of Christ, setting forth the conditions under which he will allow the group to be active in the Baltimore archdiocese. The archbishop’s letter, written after a meeting with leaders of the Legionaries, is posted on the web site of the Baltimore archdiocese.
“Knowing that your willingess to accept the discernment of ecclesiastical authority is but a further proof of the authenticity of the charisms of the Legionaries and Regnum Christi, as pastor of the local Church in Baltimore I need the following from you,” Archbishop O’Brien wrote, adding a list of stipulations.
The archbishop asked Father Corcuera to designate a priest as liaison between the Legionaries of Christ (LC) and the archdiocese. That priest, he said, should provide a complete listing of the LC priests working in the archdiocese and a summary of their current activities; he should also list the members of the affiliated lay group, Regnum Christi, and their activities. The LC liaison should inform local pastors about any activities undertaken by the Legionaries or Regnum Christi within the boundaries of their parishes, Archbishop O’Brien ordered.
Showing special concern about the reports of aggressive efforts by LC members to recruit young men to the priesthood, the archbishop said that in order to avoid “undue sense of vocational obligation,” LC priests should not act as spiritual directors for young men under the age of 18.
Archbishop O’Brien asked for a full listing of boys from the Baltimore archdiocese who are enrolled in LC high-school seminaries and boarding schools. He said that the archdiocesan director of vocations would “review that information with the parents and pastors of those candidates.”
From what I’ve been hearing, the LCs have put on a staggering show of willful ignorance and misdirection in dealing with the alleged misdeeds of their founder and the subsequent disciplinary actions of the Vatican.
As for the rest, I can personally attest to the aggressiveness of their vocational recruitment and the dangers of spiritual direction with them. I was told by several LCs that they “knew” I had a vocation - on one occasion, with biblical certainty (”Like Christ knew when he saw the young man under the fig tree” a high-ranking LC told me one day, “I just know.” ) Oddly, one of the priests who “knew” I had a vocation has since lost his own, and has been laicized. No doubt because he was subjected to the same thing - which might explain why, when telling me he knew I had one, he tried to override my objections as follows:
Me: “Father, I don’t think I have a vocation to the priesthood. I don’t want to be a priest.”
Father: “That doesn’t mean anything. I never wanted to be a priest. I still don’t want to be a priest a lot of the time…”
Healthy philosophy, isn’ t it? Just a guess here - maybe that’s why he left.
As for spiritual direction, I was lied to, manipulated, and kept, in violation of canon law (Can. 630) in a situation where it was simply assumed that the superior of my house was to be spiritual director and confessor to us who were living there.
The Legionaries and their close confidants in the Regnum Christi will no doubt, when they are huddled in their meetings, preparing apostolates, etc., characterize the Archbishop as an enemy of the “movement” who must be handled carefully and circumvented when possible. I remember, as I was preparing the first mission that Youth for the Third Millenium (now MissionYouth, apparently) held in Miami, Florida in 1997, that I was similarly warned about the bishop of Miami at the time. Stealth, and the application of the principal of “forgiveness rather than permission” were always among our tactics in such cases.
The letter of the Archbishop is, therefore, brilliant in its composition. He asks for detailed reports on all individuals and activities, and appeals to the Legion to provide them as “but a further proof of the authenticity” of their charisms, and because he knows the “deep commitment of the Legion and Regnum Christi” in carrying out their mission and exercising their charisms “in support of the unity and communion that Christ wants for His Church”.
If he had only called on them to demonstrate their “generosity” - an LC buzzword that is used to both inspire (”Will you be generous for Christ?”) and slander (”He left the movement because he was not generous…”) - it would have been perfect.
I stand in awe of the Archbishop’s masterful handling of this. Other dioceses would do well to take note and follow suite. It leaves the accountability squarely in the Legionaries’ court, a position they do not like to be in, but must be in, if they are to reform and become a valuable part of the Church, rather than a parasite that takes good Catholics and manages to (in many cases, though not all) destroy their families, faith and vocations.
Am I reading this post right? You were in either the LC or RC circa 1997? I was in the LC from 96-8.
Well put.
Jon,
Yes. I was involved with them more informally starting around 1994, then more frequently leading up to my attendance at the Highlands School in Irving, TX, where I lived with the priests and brothers in community during the school year. While there, I helped with ECYD and was captain of the young men’s RC team.
After graduation, I did a mission with YTM in Canada, then went through the “co-worker program”. During that program, I got guilt-tripped into the candidacy program, but I was too unhappy and making too many waves, so they sent me to Atlanta in August of 1996 to do my co-worker time. I decided to leave that Christmas because of lingering vocational pressure, and my last stint was as Mission Director for the first Miami Mission YTM did in January of 1997.
Then in college at Steubie, I was peripherally involved with the goings on, mainly because so many of my friends were in RC (and I was definitely NOT).
If you were in Cheshire from 1995-1997, we may very well have met.
We very well might have; I was in the candidacy of the summer of ‘96 in Cheshire; first year of novitiate in Cornwall, Ontario (they’d just opened that house a year or so before); second year of novitiate in Cheshire (and Armonk/Thornwood: A selection of Section B brothers–myself included–did little but work during fall of 97-spring of 98, it seemed).
This has been a long time coming. If only parents knew how manipulative the Legionaries and consecrated women can be in “helping” youngsters discern God’s will for their lives. Sincere prayers for all who have been so badly snowed by this group. MM’s situation was only one facet — but Archbishop O’Brien seems to have grasped the games that go beyond the founder.
Some more quotes on LC ‘discretion’.
In the Legion the evangelical virtue of discretion in practiced, especially with outsiders, for reasons of prudence so that the self-preservation and self-defense of the congregation are bound together, for reasons of humility so the legionary may work with a great purity of intention, and for reasons of apostolic efficiency so that greater freedom of action might be enjoyed.
– Keep your mouth shut.
567. Out of love for the Legion and a sense of responsibility take care not to communicate to outsiders anything that might be misinterpreted about the diverse context of religious life in the Legion, anything that might be used against the Legion, anything which superiors have not authorized you to communicate, and anything that might imply scorn of the Legion.
– Our lifestyle of strange rules is a secret because ‘they won’t understand’
568. Always maintain great self-control, even with your own colleagues, in order to avoid passing along negative or unnecessary news, or speaking of problems, learned through visits or by other means, of other religious, communities or apostolates with the goal of respecting charity, which is the source of a true spirit of peace and harmony in the Congregation and in its communities.
– The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. The members are kept in the dark about problems and criticisms - ‘attacks of devil’.
569. Never facilitate, without serious cause, oral or written distribution of reports or facts about legionaries, or writings of the Legion without authorization by superiors. Be very prudent and discreet in your comments so as not to unnecessarily damage the Legion.
– Keep your mouth shut and guard our secret charism revealed by God. Remember, they won’t ‘understand’ and the Legion has many enemies.
570. Be shrewd when dealing with outsiders. Respond with precision, moderation and discretion to questions they may ask, keeping in mind the good or evil they are capable of doing to the Legion and to each other in passing along a fact or expressing an opinion.
– It’s OK to conceal truth and deceive others because you are doing it for God, to protect his Work. Remember, the LC has many enemies: liberals, communists, atheists, Jews.
571. Be especially discreet in regard to anything that you may learn in an official capacity, including anything of an apostolic nature, or through dealings with secular members, or through interaction with superiors, bearing in mind that you are the keepers of a confidence that should not be betrayed.
– Keep your mouth shut! Left hand…
Loose lips sink ships.
572. Avoid dealing with or discussing personal problems with your companions. It is better to refer these problems to those whom God has designated to help you on your road to loyalty and satisfaction.
– No one knows what others really think about all this stuff, and we don’t want you thinking for yourselves by sharing thoughts, becoming aware of problems, realizing others have doubts too!
573. Be very careful to guard the custody of the writings and documents of the Legion (constitutions, letters from the founder, manuals, statutes, chapter decrees and communications, etc.). Do not leave them within the reach of outsiders, always keeping them in designated places and not lending them out without authorization from the appropriate superiors.
– Keep our special, top secret Mission from GOD safe, because THEY won’t understand, since they don’t have the special ‘grace of state’ of being called to the Legion from all eternity like YOU do. Remember, the LC has many enemies.
This is how they really think, people. Thank God I’m out and free from their cult.