What explains the success of the Legionaries of Christ?

Monday, June 14, 2010

What explains the success of the Legionaries of Christ?

I think the Vatican understands that the Legionaries of Christ and the members of Regnum Christi have done, and continue to do, a great deal of good. The Congregation, despite the disgraced founder, has been a conduit of saving grace for many thousands of adherents not precisely because of the work of Maciel but rather despite his reprehensible human flaws. They have achieved phenomenal success in varied apostolic endeavors during a relatively short period of time. The good they have done is from God and not from the founder.

Legionaries since very early on, guided by the entrepreneurial genius of Maciel the founder, learned to work with the best the Catholic Church had to offer – idealistic young men who wanted to be priests, generous young women willing to serve the Church, orthodox Catholic couples seeking a superior Christian education for their children. All of them dissatisfied, to some degree, by the lack of opportunity, organization, talent, and enthusiasm they found in their local parishes and schools.

Maciel the founder believed that Legionaries had much to learn from Communist recruitment techniques and motivational practices. He urged them to work harder and longer than the enemies of the Church. His message focused more on how to get things done. Slowly and imperceptibly methodology became more important than spirituality. For members, the how and why were one and the same.

The founder did a masterful job of keeping his vices secret and his double life diligently hidden from scrutiny. He encouraged his Legionaries and their recruits to preach and practice a totally orthodox spirituality founded on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and loyalty to the Holy See. Thankfully, neither the Legion nor the Regnum Christi Movement replicated the duplicity or the personal vices of the founder of which, for the most part, they were unaware.

However, Maciel’s thinking and double life has sullied the methodology he bequeathed and has deformed the formation of the consciences of the members. The soon-to-be-appointed (Fall, 2010) Vatican delegate who will oversee the re-foundation of the Legion will be faced with the task of helping Legionaries and their adherents untangle Maciel’s twisted thinking from all that is orthodox in their formation. Thankfully, the Legionaries seem to be on-board with this task, promising obedient compliance with the Vatican clean up.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Hello Jack,

As an active RC member I've read your blog with considerable interest. There are certainly many different takes on the current situation, the Vatican's response, and the Legion's actions. I've certainly appreciated your response, one I consider very honest and balanced.

I am curious to pick your brain about your experience in out of the Legion. So many priests had mostly positive experiences in the order, but many did not. And some of those that did not, including yourself, had seemingly really bad experiences with Fr. Maciel. It is fairly clear now that he was quite good at hiding his vices, as you put it.

Many people seem to discount people's positive experiences of Maciel since all they see is the terrible side of him. I contend that he was a master at keeping up the "good face" for the majority of the time, but at times this facade slipped, and those are the bad experiences people had with him, and probably that was when the "real Maciel" came forth. If so, it would seem logical (at least if I was in his position) to remove/force out these people who saw the real him.

But the others who never saw this were truly duped by a masterful man. Their experiences of the good things he did were genuine, even if he was not. No wonder the negative stories others told were hard, if not impossible, to believe.

What are your thoughts on this. I admit I haven't read all your posts, so perhaps you;ve addressed this already. If so I apologize. I jsut think many people lack the understanding of the complexity of Maciel's deceptoin and the effect on everyone's experiences. If we could have a bit more compassion and mercy, I think we could make some real progress in fixing things and moving forward (even if that means shutting everything down). As it is there seems to be alot of knee jerk reactions and complete mistrust.; June 15, 2010 at 2:08 PM
The Monk said...: Thanks for your comment and question Anonymous. I wrote a reply - but it's too long for this combox! So, I'll go ahead and post it on the blog - I guess I'll call it something like "Reactions to Fr. Maciel." Let me know what you think!; June 15, 2010 at 6:24 PM

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The story that inspired "Driving Straight on Crooked Lines"

“A long time ago, a Monk set out on his travels accompanied by his assistant, a Brother. Night was falling when the Monk told the Brother to go on ahead to find lodging. The Brother searched the deserted landscape until he found a humble shack, in the middle of nowhere. A poor family lived in the hovel. The mother, father and children were dressed in rags. The Brother asked if he and the Monk could spend the night in their dwelling. “You are most welcome to spend the night,” said the father of the family. They prepared a simple meal consisting of fresh milk, cheese and cream for the Brother and the Monk. The Brother felt moved by their poverty and even more by their simple generosity.

When they finished eating, the Monk asked them how they managed to survive in such a poor place, so far away from the nearest neighbors and town. The wife looked to her husband to answer. In a resigned tone of voice he told them how they managed to survive. ‘We have one cow. We sell her milk to our neighbors who do not live too far away. We hold back enough for our needs and to make some cheese and cream-that is what we eat.”

The next morning, the Brother and the Monk said their good-byes and set out to continue their journey. After the Monk and the Brother had walked a few miles, the Monk turned to the Brother and said, “Go back and push the cow off the cliff!” “Father,” the Brother replied, “they live off the cow. Without her, they will have nothing.” The Monk repeated his order “go back and kill the cow.”

With a heavy heart, the Brother returned to the hovel. He worried about the future of the family because he knew they depended on the cow to survive. His vow of obedience bound him to follow the orders of the wise Monk. He pushed the cow off the cliff.

Years later, the young Brother became a Monk. One day he found himself on the same road where he found lodging so many years ago. Driven by a sense of remorse he decided to visit the family. He rounded the curve in the road and to his surprise, he saw a splendid mansion, surrounded by landscaped gardens, in the place where the hovel used to be. The new house exuded a sense of prosperity and happiness. The Monk knocked on the door.

A well-dressed man answered. The Monk asked, “what ever became of the family who used to live here? Did they sell the property to you?” The man looked surprised and said he and his family had always lived on the property. The Monk told him how he had stayed in a hovel on the same spot, with his master the old Monk. ‘What happened to the family that lived here?” he asked.

The man invited the Monk to stay with him as his guest. While they ate, the host explained how the family’s fortune changed. “You know Father, we used to have a cow. She kept us alive. We didn't own anything else. One day she fell down the cliff and died. To survive, we had to start doing other things, develop skills we did not even know we had. We were forced to come up with new ways of doing things. It was the best thing that ever happened to us! We are now much better off than before.”

This is a blog of the memoirs of an Irishman - from Dublin - who is a former member of the Legion of Christ.

"Driving Straight on Crooked Lines: How an Irishman found his heart and nearly lost his mind" is available on Amazon.com and other outlets.

I look back at the events in the Legion that made me who I am today. It's a fun read with a serious message: positive change can come from adversity.

When I first heard the story of the Monk and the cow, my job - a job I truly loved - was eliminated at the multinational corporation which employed me. My cow was taken away from me, through no fault of my own. The person who told me the story was suggesting I could find new peace, happiness and financial well-being in my adversity, just as the family did when the Monk stole the cow.

A few years later, revelations about the double life of Fr. Marcial Maciel the Founder of the Legionaries of Christ, killed another cow in my life and in the lives of tens of thousands of people.

There is a Spanish saying: "God writes straight on crooked lines". "My Legionary Life" is about trying to not get lost in the crooked lines of our own - or others - making. It is about discovering the straight lines that reveal the true purpose for which we exist.

It is the the story of the first Irish Legionary of Christ to set foot in Mexico. It begins in Dublin, Ireland, passes through Spain, then Mexico, Italy, the U.S.A and Gabon, in Central West Africa.

When I am not writing, I make a living as an international managment consultant.

The Monk who Stole the Cow

Monday, June 14, 2010