Legion of Christ waits for Vatican action
April 26, 2010
As the Legion of Christ waits to hear how the Vatican will respond to a report by the five bishops who led an apostolic visitation of the troubled order, an unusually balanced AP story explained how the decision poses a challenge for Pope Benedict. After the exposure of gross misconduct by the Legion's founder, the late Father Marcial Maciel, the Vatican must decide whether other leaders of the order are tainted by involvement with Maciel. Moral theologian German Grisez says that the Legion must "identify those who knew about Maciel's wrongdoing, get rid of them, and begin afresh."
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Posted by: Don Vicente -
Apr. 26, 2010 10:10 PM ET USA
How do you "fold" someone into another order or congregation? The charism of the Franciscans or the Dominicans is utterly different from the Legion. The nearest in theoretical structure to the Legion are the Jesuits -- and that surely wouldn't work! I just do not see different congregations throwing open their gates to men perceived (rightly or wrongly) by many as "damaged goods." My own thought is to re-found the Legion with Benedict XIV as "re-Founder." Maciel would become a footnote.
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Posted by: TheJournalist64 -
Apr. 26, 2010 7:17 PM ET USA
If the Legion is to remain viable, they must purge all the injustice at the top and adjust their charism to admit the problems involved in their formation and growth, and eliminate Maciel's teachings. That may mean the order can't survive. The faithful priests could then be folded into other orders.
