Bene Factress of the Legion of Christ will Return in the New Year

Yes, it's true, her fans have been clamoring for years that she return to the ear -sorry!- air waves. Bene will arise from her ashes, from her exile, to triumph once again... She is signing a four-letter contract with one of the biggest names in the publishing business, Random Shouts

The Dublin Report -Summary & Montreal Pastor found guilty of Sexually Abusing Girl

Dublin diocese report - at a glance

The Report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin was set up in 2006 to investigate how Church and state authorities handled allegations of child abuse against 46 priests over a period from 1975 to 2004.

READ THE REPORT
The full report can be read at www.justice.ie

• One priest admitted to sexually abusing over 100 children, while another accepted that he had abused on a fortnightly basis throughout his 25-year ministry.
• The Commission examined complaints in respect of over 320 children against 46 priests. Substantially more of the complaints relate to boys - the ratio is 2.3 boys to one girl.
• Of the 46 priests examined, 11 pleaded guilty to or were convicted in the criminal courts of sexual assaults on children.
• There was one clear case of a false accusation of child sexual abuse.
• The report found Dublin Archdiocese's pre-occupations in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse, at least until the mid 1990s, were the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the Church, and the preservation of its assets. All other considerations, including the welfare of children and justice for victims, were subordinated to these priorities.
• All the Archbishops of Dublin in the period covered by the Commission were aware of some complaints.
• The Church authorities failed to implement most of their own canon law rules on dealing with clerical child sexual abuse. This was in spite of the fact that a number of them were qualified canon and civil lawyers.
• A mother who contacted the Archdiocese to report that her daughter had been abused as a child was told that the daughter would have to make the complaint. When the mother made it clear that the daughter was unlikely to be able to make such a complaint, she was not even asked for the name of the priest.
• A number of very senior members of the Irish police regarded priests as being outside their remit. There are some examples of them actually reporting complaints to the Archdiocese instead of investigating them.
• The Church did not start to report complaints of child sexual abuse to the Irish police until late 1995

In an effort to educate the public about the nature of pedophilia, sexual abuse, and exploitation of minors we post the following story courtesy of Infosecte. a Canadian organization. Pedophiles do not only target boys! Gender of victim is not of the essence. It is exercising power and control over a more vulnerable and less powerful person.

Montreal 'pastor' guilty of sexual exploitation

Daniel Cormier is already serving time for assaulting 10-year-old girl

The Gazette

December 18, 2009

MONTREAL – The founder and self-styled pastor of a defunct Christian sect – who is already serving time for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl he claims to have married – has been found guilty of sexual exploitation of another minor.
Daniel Cormier, 58, who is already serving a five-year term, showed no emotion Friday as Quebec Court Judge Claude Leblond pronounced the verdict. Cormier, who fired his latest lawyer, did not testify and presented no witnesses.
Leblond said Cormier is guilty beyond any reasonable doubt of two counts of sexual exploitation in the latest case. It is an offence for someone in a position of trust or authority to have sexual contact with someone aged 16 to 18, even if there is consent. The victim was 16 and 17 when the crimes occurred.
The victim testified, in a video recording of her statement to police, that she fell head-over-heels in love with Cormier while she frequented his l’Église du Centre-Ville.
She said she once gave him a French kiss, but later he initiated sexual touching on two occasions. Cormier denied both incidents.
The judge found the teen’s version credible, and said he doubts Cormier allowed himself to become involved with her “innocently.”
“It is also not credible that an adolescent who thought she was ‘ugly, fat and stupid’ and was trying to get closer to God could have manipulated her pastor,” he ruled.
Leblond said he found it “revealing” that in his first statement to police, Cormier claimed the teenager was in love with him and had tried to excite him sexually.
Sentencing arguments are scheduled for Feb. 1. The maximum is five years in jail.
In the other case, Cormier claimed he was innocent of sex-abuse charges because he had “married” his 10-year-old victim.
The Crown, however, said the law was clear – the legal age for consensual sex is 14 and the age for a woman to marry in 1999 was 16.

http://www.canada.com/news/Montreal+pastor+guilty+sexual+exploitation/2360404/story.html

Irish Woman tells Story of Abuse by Priest

Barbara Blaine, SNAP founder, as a child was abused by an American priest

I am inserting this story because of its poignancy. It had nothing to do with Fr. Maciel directly but it gives an idea of pedophilie abuse -in this case the MODUS OPERANDI of a priest. Female readers, especially, may find this hard to read. Continue with care.

Irish woman tells her story of "Fr. Horatio"

“I didn’t ask for this to happen to me. I didn’t go looking for it. Having my story believed is huge. Especially as I later learnt that other people who knew Fr Horatio, including a priest I once confided in when I was 19, claimed that I had brought this on myself.
“I hope they are reading this. Part of me hopes that Fr Horatio is reading this too, so that he can see the damage that he has done and the hurt that he has caused.

“The most painful thing for me is that Fr Horatio has left a lasting legacy on my marriage. Because of Fr Horatio, I could never separate sex from alcohol. I never had spontaneous or natural sex and it is still a really hard thing to do.
“It astounds me how it still affects me. He should have to pay for that. He took away my teenage years.
“I hope that somebody will benefit from reading my story. Even if just one person finds that their story has a similar pattern to mine, I would hope that they come forward.
“I have nightmares about Fr Horatio. He is holding me, squeezing me and won’t let me go. That is an analogy for what happened; he was squeezing the life out of me.
“I think that every time I tell my story Fr Horatio gets smaller and smaller.
“In telling it, this big secret that I couldn’t tell anyone about becomes more and more insignificant. I have started being myself.”


A victim tells her story about ‘Fr Horatio’

By MAEVE SHEEHAN


Posted on December 16, 2009 by dialogueireland

‘I could not tell anybody because I felt no one would believe me. And of course, I felt that I would be held to blame. He was our priest. I was a schoolgirl.’ In the wake of the appalling catalogue of revelations of clerical child abuse outlined by the Commission into the Dublin Archdiocese, one victim tells of her treatment by a man identified in the Murphy report only as ‘Fr Horatio.’

Sunday Independent

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/i-could-not-tell-anybody-because-i-felt-no-one-would-believe-me-and-of-course-i-felt-that-i-would-be-held-to-blame-he-was-our-priest-i-was-a-schoolgirl-1973168.html

Sunday December 13 2009


IN 1980, Fr Horatio was moved to a chaplaincy after parents complained that he had abused their 15-year-old son in a gay nightclub. That was the year he came into the life of Mary, a shy 10-year-old girl whom he showered with gifts and attention, grooming her for an abusive sexual relationship that lasted three years. Until Judge Yvonne Murphy’s report on clerical sex abuse was published, she thought she was his only victim. The report revealed that he had also abused two 15-year-old boys, and had been for treatment at the Granada Institute, a clinic for sexual abusers. Yet he remained a parish priest until she reported him to the authorities in 2005. He is now retired from active ministry.

This is Mary’s story: “I was 10 when Fr Horatio came to our parish. He was a real Fr Trendy. He was a good-looking man and used to wear Doc Martens. He was around 40 then and a charmer. People used to say how charismatic he was. My family were religious, particularly my grandmother who lived with us. There was me, my three siblings and my mam and dad. Fr Horatio made friends with the family very quickly. He used to come for dinner and celebrate house Masses, the usual family Catholic rituals that we had back then.

“From the age of 12, he began to send me birthday cards and Valentine’s cards and I suppose that was when it started.
“I was a quiet child. I came in the middle of the family and I suppose I felt isolated. My older siblings were very outgoing and had their own interests. Whenever Fr Horatio came to the house, he made me feel special. He gave me loads of attention. I used to draw Snoopy pictures for him and put them in his pocket. He used to sign his cards ‘your special friend’. My grandmother used to say ‘wasn’t I lucky to be getting cards from a priest?’
“He started buying me presents — a religious icon for my 13th birthday, a silver chain with purple stones and a pair of earrings which he brought back for me from his holidays.
“When I was 15, his interest in me grew stronger, the presents got more personal and the physical contact started. On my 15th birthday, he bought me perfume, Yardley Pure Silk. He gave me books to read, inviting me down to the presbytery to pick them from his shelves.
“He used to hug me and say things like: ‘If life is tough, you can rely on me.’ I remember asking him if he was ever going to leave the parish. He said ‘No, I’m here to stay. I’ll always be here for you’. At the altar, he would look down at me and give me a wink. I would think: ‘Oh, is that for me?’ I was just 15 and a lonely kid. I was painfully shy. Naturally I felt chuffed. But looking back now, I can see that he was grooming me.

“I had joined a folk group to try and make some friends. On my 16th birthday we sang at evening Mass.
“The folk group got me a cake to celebrate afterwards and Fr Horatio said: ‘When you’re finished come over to the presbytery’.
“He had his own rooms, a sitting room and a bedroom, upstairs in the presbytery. The parish priest lived downstairs. At different times, other priests lived there too.
“That evening, in his room, Fr Horatio said: ‘Can I give you a birthday kiss?’ I thought he meant a kiss on the cheek. It was a full-on kiss. He was 43 at that stage and I was such an innocent. I had never even had a boyfriend. I went home in a tizz. Part of me knew what he had done was wrong but I was so naive I thought maybe I had misunderstood it.
“He started inviting me to the presbytery after school. I would show up in my school uniform and no one ever passed a comment, even though I had to pass the parish priest’s rooms to go upstairs and often had to let myself out again.
“One evening after school, he took things further. He sat on the couch and he put his hand up my skirt. I froze. He said: ‘You will get used to it and you will come to like it’.
“But I never did. I hated it but I wanted to please him. He had built up his power over me during all the years of him being in our house, of making me feel important to him, that he was only doing it because ‘I care about you’.

“He spent all of my 16th year trying to have sex with me. I could not do it. Physically I just wasn’t able. That did not stop him trying.
“Not long after my 16th birthday, he gave me a book, The Joy of Sex, and told me to take it away and read it.
“He brought me to his cottage in the country on Fridays. He would bring a brown single mattress rolled up in the boot of his car, and an itchy brown patchwork quilt that some poor woman probably sat stitching away at for hours for him. The cottage was cold and basic. He used to try to have sex with me there and when I couldn’t, he would tell me to do things to him, even though I was distraught and crying. He always kept a kitchen towel beside him.
“I was confused and upset. I could not tell anybody because I felt no one would believe me. And of course, I felt that I would be held to blame. He was our priest. I was a schoolgirl.

“When the sexual activity started, the stress became so bad that I got eczema. The skin on my face was raw. Fr Horatio suggested that I go on the pill even though I was only 16. He said to me you can tell the doctor that you need the pill to improve your skin. How he knew this I don’t know. The thing was, I hadn’t even started menstruating at the time.
“Fr Horatio put a fear in me that I can’t really describe. I was waiting for this awful thing to happen each time I was with him. But the way he saw it was he was doing me a favour. He was preparing me for the world.
“I lost my virginity on my 17th birthday. He gave me altar wine. I had never had alcohol before. The sex was horrible, cold and calculating. I remember listening in religion class to the teacher saying sex was for someone special, for someone that you love. I remember thinking that maybe he must love me because he’s doing all these things to me. That night on my birthday, I asked him did he love me. He said ‘no, not yet’. Afterwards, he flicked on his priest’s collar to go say Mass, leaving me to make my own way out of the presbytery.
“He often took me out, to restaurants, concerts and to the cinema. When I was 16, he took me on trips to London and Scotland. In Scotland, we stayed in a large house, it could have been a monastery, where a priest opened the door to us and showed us to a dormitory.

“Other priests must have known what was going on. He brought me to Wexford once to see a friend of his, a priest, who was an alcoholic.

“No one seemed to think this was strange.

“One day Fr Horatio told me he got keys from Sean Fortune (the notorious child abuser who is now dead) to a house in the country and that he was going to take me there.“Later I wondered how friendly they were with each other that they would exchange keys.
“Fr Horatio never acknowledged that what he was doing was wrong. As I got older, I got braver and asked if he ever had done this before. He told me he had been with two women. Sometime after that, he told me I should have an Aids test. When I asked why, he said: ‘Remember one of the women I told you about? She had a lot of partners’.
“When I was 18, and at a stage when I wanted him out of my life, I sat on a harbour wall and thought how easy it would be to throw myself in and it would all stop. At 19, I knew that I had to get away from him.
“I think he sensed that because then he started talking about marriage.
“He spoke to Bishop Donal Murray, then an auxiliary bishop, about wanting to marry me. But, according to the Murphy report, he never disclosed how old I was or the history of sexual activity.
“Fr Horatio was moved to another parish.

“I went to see him there and, one morning when he went to say Mass, I found an old-fashioned brown case full of pornography in his room.“When he returned, I made clear my disgust. For me to even say this was a huge thing. I never, ever questioned him or spoke out of turn. We drove up to his cottage and he burnt them as though to say ‘are you happy now?’“That was a turning point. I had started my first job by then. A girl my own age who I worked with invited me out with her friends . . . I thought this was another world.“I met him one lunchtime near where I worked. I told him I did not want to see him anymore. I remember saying I needed to get away from him. He was crying. I just walked out. I don’t know where I got that strength from.
“I met my husband soon after that. I had started to drink quite heavily. Every day of my life, this hung on my shoulders. I just wanted to forget about it.“I was ashamed of what happened and put the whole burden of it on myself: why hadn’t I stopped it? Why didn’t I see what he was doing? I was beating myself up.
“Before we married, I told my husband sporadic bits of what had happened, thinking that he should go away and not get involved with me.“He kept coming back. If he didn’t, I could have easily gone down a very bad path. His gentleness and goodness kept me on the right track.“We were married and had our first baby when Fr Horatio made contact in 1995. I was all over the place emotionally then. When my daughter was born, I knew that I needed to get some help so I could make some sense on what happened to me. We went for a walk in the park. I said to myself I will be brave and confront him. But I just felt like that kid again who couldn’t put two words together. So I said nothing.“Later on, he was appointed a parish priest. I went to his house on the bus to confront him about what he had done to me. I got there and I just couldn’t do it. The confidence just left me.
“It was 2003 before I went to counselling. It took me a long time to get there and a lot of drinking. I knew that he did not deserve to be a parish priest. I knew that he should be held responsible for what he did. Two years later, I made a complaint to the archdiocese and to the gardai.“He was removed from his parish within a week.“Fr Horatio never denied anything. He admitted that what I said was true but he claimed it was a loving, mutual relationship. I know now what a mutual loving relationship is and that was not what I experienced with him.
“The Director of Public Prosecutions did not press charges against Fr Horatio in my case. But I feel vindicated by the Murphy report.“It confirmed that what happened to me was child sexual abuse and said he also admitted to abusing two 15-year-old boys. It is now clear that Fr Horatio had a history of problems that were known to the archdiocese. The Church authorities had received two complaints about him before mine. He seemed to have been in and out of the Granada Institute.

By MAEVE SHEEHAN

[3] Fr. Maciel's Sexual Seduction Technique

[Content under censorship review by the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith -just kidding!]

[2] Maciel Seduces Seminarians

"Our Father", Marcial Maciel, surrounded by the very first group of Irish recruits at Bundrowes House, Bundoran, Co. Donegal, Ireland. To the far left one of his victims, Fr. Felix Alarcon, and next to him, Fr. James Coundreau. Both priests left Maciel and the Legion decades ago for diocesan and military service.

 [Below an excerpt from corresponding chapter in Our Father, who art in bed]


Celibate or Hibernate?
In the light of sexual scandals in the Legion, which I learned
about years after I left, I add the following considerations.
During my nine-year training to be a Legionary, and indeed
during the remaining fourteen years as a Legionary priest, I
was never aware of sexual improprieties of any kind in the
order. I was never aware of being approached by a confrere or
superior in a sexually inappropriate way.
During seminary training leading to my deaconate
vow of celibacy, I was never outside the “cloister” walls of a
Legionary formation center on my own, and thus never met
an attractive woman. Apparently, in order to be chosen as our
cook, a woman had to be old and ugly. It seems reasonable to
conclude that my commitment to celibacy was, like everything
else in the Legion “formation system,” an unprocessed foregone
conclusion: “I assume, therefore I am a Legionary!”
I admit I felt fleeting attraction for that Venezuelan
benefactress, Nora. Accompanied by her rather provocative
daughter, she was allowed to flit around the college in Rome
some time during my Theology studies. She must have been
contributing in no uncertain terms to the “economy of the
Legion” for Father Maciel to permit that. Although it was kind
of strange to have a woman “in the community,” with access to
the semi-private areas in our house, all Legionaries knew that
when The Founder was around exceptions could be made to
regular observance of the rules. Anyway, my infatuation with
La Señora must have lasted all of twenty seconds, that is, while
we were together in the elevator between floors at Via Aurelia
677. And there were only four floors! I may have been slightly
troubled about it at the time. Looking back, it just proves that
I had not been totally neutered by the Legion.
Most Legionaries will attest that the atmosphere
surrounding us regarding sexuality and chastity was eerily
“antiseptic,” like that sterile smell of disinfectant you got when
entering a hospital. There was a communal belief that the Legion
had been protected from impurity by a special gift from the
Blessed Virgin Mary. So that purity was a given, and impure
thoughts, feelings, or actions were unusual, out of place, and
unexpected in the Legion. It was “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Some
guys were kicked out because of voyeurism: looking into the
showers or dressing rooms when other guys were changing, or
for other offenses that to mature eyes might not appear serious.
But the superiors would never mention these transgressions.
Sex was taboo, hidden, like the nudes in L’Enciclopedia dell’Arte
in our library.
According to the rules, or norms, we were allowed six
movies a year, never in a public theater, but in our own house,
16mm or Super-8. The projectionist and superior previewed
the movie beforehand. Whenever a remotely erotic or simple
romantic scene appeared, a card was inserted between the lens
and the film to block out the bad images.
There is a standing joke about the Irish Book on Sex: all
the pages are blank. This reflects our Legion sexual education.
We received no explanation of the physiology of the sexes, drives,
attraction, falling in love, and love-making. Who would talk
about something as “repulsive” and “impure” as that? Novice
Instructor, Rector, Superior, and Spiritual Director Rafael Arumí,
or obsessive compulsive Assistant Superior and Spiritual Director
Octavio Acevedo, not-too-bright Rector, Superior, and Spiritual
Director Alfredo Torres, or dog-lover and horticulturalist, Rector,
Superior, and Spiritual Director Juan Manuel Dueñas-Rojas?
Where would you find a manual, a booklet, or even some pictures?
All the remotely sensual illustrations in the Encyclopedia of Art
had been papered over. I’m sure some creative souls did their
own research…but not me.
I had enough with my constant doubts of Faith. On the
other hand, I must admit there was a very helpful book about
how to handle adolescent changes available in Salamanca. It
was called “You are becoming a man.” I felt I was a normal and
healthy adolescent, with normal urges, practicing self-control
and abstinence. There might be the occasional wet dream. That
would be part of confession and spiritual direction. I believe
Father Dueñas, spiritual director, rector and superior in Rome
made the recommendation: “Be more careful, and try not to
let that happen again.” I’m glad Brother Moore had explained
things a little better back in the seventh grade.
So, regarding sex everything was silenced; it was not
mentioned among us; no education, neutral, neutered, frozen.
As a heterosexual I never felt any intrusion from superior or peer.
Father Maciel, in his later confrontations with me, appeared to
express his sentiments: “Women, because of their sexuality, are
the root of all evil.” Because we were forbidden from talking
about anything personal among ourselves, I have no idea of
how others fared—those struggling with their sexual identity
or with homosexual feelings. Testimonies of ex-Legionaries now
demonstrate that some members, no matter their orientation,
were sexually approached by unscrupulous superiors, novice
masters and spiritual directors. But many of us had no inkling
of anything improper going on.
This enigma is partially solved by the testimony of one of the original
accusers, José Pérez Olvera, who exited the Legion as I was entering:
“It seemed that nothing
mattered more than the virtue of purity. We were wholesome
boys, but they drummed the idea of purity into us to such a
degree that we ended up being fixated on it. For us everything
was a sin. The obsession with offending God was so great that
I couldn’t even touch my penis when I went to the bathroom.
I ended up going to a Trappist monastery next door to confess.
This from the time I was a boy, from the time I entered at
age eleven. And I want to tell you that in Rome we were
surrounded by paintings of nudes. A virgin breast-feeding a
child was a sin. It was aberrant. The hypocrisy got to the point
that they would put little pieces of paper on art book pictures
so that things would not be seen [which produced the opposite
effect]. I lived in anguish. One could never feel serene. It was
as if God had not created sex. And to top it all off, Father
Marcial was a total hypocrite; it did not matter to him that he
had destroyed us.”
I know one of my Legionary colleagues was seriously
troubled for years for having smuggled a girlie magazine
into the seminary. Once discovered, he was haunted by his
superior’s warning that such an act of impurity demonstrated
a serious moral shortcoming which seriously jeopardized his
Legionary calling. That Legion-induced guilt hung like a sword
of Damocles over his conscience for many years. He was led
to believe that if he abandoned the Legion he would lose his
priesthood: his depraved inclination would make it impossible
for him to carry on as a priest, for no bishop would ever accept
such a deviant priest into his diocese. Another ex-Legionary
colleague, Hector Carlos—calling me out of the blue after 37
years—told me that when the Legion was trying to dump him,
his spiritual director gratuitously told him, “You don’t have a
vocation to celibacy, because you masturbate.” “Who told you I
masturbate?” retorted my recently recovered companion.]
***

Fr, Maciel as Sex Abuser

St Tarcisius from Musee D'Orsay, Paris

From the memoir, a poem by the author


MACIEL’S SEDUCERS IN SEVILLE
I
Approaching the Cristo de Burgos
For you I did penance and cried;
On the corner of Sales-Ferré,
Spied procession of Servite friars;
Amid Trappist’, Jesuit’ suspicions,
First Legionary adolescent needs,
-Bay of Cobreces, story Foundation-
Solace seeking with willowy priest.
In their budding homo-curiosity
-Close I to Granada’s meet,
Home to Federico de Gay-
Their spiritual father in sheets?
Now one was robust and quite virile,
The other with sweet baby face,
A third was a fair-haired blue-eyes,
The next with a delicate grace.
They all had one thing in common
As for the seminary they signed:
To be fondled, aroused and pleasured,
Aye, ravished by their Father benign.


II
So facing the float of Dolores
Descending the narrowing street,
With long brown candles burning
Their hands peak-capped Nazarenes,
I prayed for the Christ of Cotija
Stretched across his mother’s knee,
Grieving for her Jesus Maciel,
Broken, betrayed and bereaved.
They created the Myth of Abuser;
Accused him of tempting to prey;
Their saintly, innocent, Pastor,
True victim of calumnies vain.
Now one was quite strong and most virile;
The other, a round baby-face;
A third was handsome and blue-eyed
The fourth with a delicate grace.
Unbeknownst to their ignorant parents
-What little perverts they had raised! -
Had gone to the order with one plan:
His chaste body defile and debase.

III
The float forced its path through the lane-way,
Fairly crushing all bones to the wall,
My senses bewildered with brocade
Gold and silver, incense and pall.
Through the haze the halting procession,
Wending its way through the throng,
Cavorting, provocative altar boys,
All of eleven years tall.
When I tried to imagine their malice,
Fathom the evil they bore,
I coldly considered the “victim”
And burst into sobs for their souls.
So I wept for the blue-eyed conspirator,
And the boy with the soft baby-face;
For the virile, athletic and strong one,
And the one with a delicate grace.
They had come to the order with one mind:
To deceive the immaculate priest.
Were they wolves in babes’ simple clothing?
Or prey to a Wolf and a Beast?
 ============

In the Glorious City of Seville,
Cradle of Christopher’s Commission
And Torquemada’s Holy Inquisition.
Poetic license provoked
By some Catholics’ view
That sexual abuse by priests can be
Reduced to homosexuality, or gayness;
That the young ones are willing accomplices;
By testimonies of eight seminarians against Father
Marcial Maciel,
Founder and Superior General of the Legion of Christ;
By pro-Maciel defense and adulation of him and his
mother;
By early Legion history in northern Spain where first
rumors arose;
And inspired by walking the streets participating in
Seville’s Holy Week processions, 2003

Transgenerational Sexual Abuse in the Legion [4] Fr. Maciel at the Salamanca Foundation, Eyewitness Account

[Continuation of eyewitness account, translated from the Spanish]

During the last days of April the previous year [1952], Marcial Maciel had taken Armando Sanchez Arias (Zamora, Michoacan, Mexico,; LC 1947-1959) out of his peer group and brought him to Rome with him.  He also took Ramiro Fernandez to Rome long before he had reached the right age [editor, Ramiro had been "recruited" for the Apostolic School in Tlalpan, Mexico City, at the age of 9]. Beginning in December 1950 Maciel also tried to bring Juan Jose Vaca over to Rome with him. (From November, 1949, in Cobreces, Santander, Spain, Maciel began sexually abusing this unfortunate boy).

En los ultimos dias de Abril del anio anterior MM habia separado a Armando Arias Sanchez (Zamora, Michoacan; LC 1947-1959) de su grupo y se lo habia llevado a Roma. A Ramiro Fenandez se lo llevo tambien antes de la edad debida. A Juan Jose Vaca trato de hacerle lo mismo y meterno en lun Liceo de Roma desde Diciembre de 1950. (Desde Noviembre de 1949, en Cobreces, MM ya venia abusando sexualmente del pobre muchachito).

The allusion you made to Ontaneda, and to [LC Fr.] Jose Maria Sanchez, leaves much unsaid [regarding pedophilia]. We became aware of the abuses ("clonation of transgenerational sexual abuse", according to Mons. Scicluna) committed by Jesus Martinez Penilla against the Apostolicos in a 1976 letter from Vaca to Marcial Maciel. Penilla was exiled to the tropical Siberia of Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico (Maciel himself never went into exile); Alfonso Valencia Castellanos (Cotija, Michoacan; LC 1949) and others was also exiled there and nothing has been heard of them since. The hardships described by Torcuato Luca de Tena in his "Ambassador in Hell" and attributed to his Blue Legion Captain Palacios in Communist Russia are nowhere near as harrowing as some of the stories we Maciel victims could tell.

Lo que dices de Ontaneda, de Jose Ma. Sanchez, etc. parece querer hacer entrever varias cosas. De los abusos (clonacion de abuso sexual transgeneracional -Scicluna dixit-) de Jesus Martinez Penilla a los
apostolicos estamos al tanto por la carta de 1976 de Juan Jose Vaca Rodriguez a MM. Penilla fue desterrado a la Siberia tropical de Chetumal, (MM nunca se autodesterro); y, como de Alfonso Valencia Castellanos (Cotija, Miachoacan; LC 1949-...) y de otros de alli no ha vuelto a saberse mas. Lo narrado en el libro de 1955 de Torcuato Luca de Tena "Embajador en el Infierno" (capitan Palacios: campania de la Legion Azul en Rusia) posee mas luces y menos sombras que ciertos recuerdos recogidos de muchos de nosotros.

Regarding Alfredo Torres (Oakland, CA/Jacona, Michoacan; LC 1942 to the present) several of us can testify that he knew all about Maciel, but he has never had the courage to bare his soul or the manliness to speak the truth publicly. He is psychologically incapable. Along with others, he is trapped in the weeds of a dark and muddy lagoon.

De Alfredo Torres (Oakland, USA - Jacona, Michoacan; LC 1942-...) varios podemos decir que de MM sabe todo y mas, pero que no ha tenido el valor de poner su alma sobre la balanza, y, virilmente, decir la verdad ante los hombres. Psicologicamente 'no puede'. Como entre las algas de un obscuro lago fangoso, el y otros han quedado atrapados.

May God give us the strength to carry on. There is still so much to do for Truth and Justice. History -micro or macro- is not over.

Que Dios nos de fuerza y nos sostenga. Por la verdad y por la justicia hay mucho que hacer aun. La historia (la grande y la chica) no ha terminado.

Jose de Jesus Barba Martin, PhD Harvard

[3] Fr. Maciel at the Salamanca Foundation, 1953 [ENGLISH VERSION] Micro-history

[Part I; Exclusive First time publishing]

Together with Juan-Jose Vaca, Juan-Manuel Fernandez Amenabar and Angel Saiz, I was one of the four "historical boys" -as they used to call us- who were chosen to accompany [Founder, Fr.] Marcial Maciel and [Fr.] Gregorio Lopez to lay the foundation stone for the college [in Salamanca] on the road to Fuentesauco. We left the Apostolic School in Ontaneda [Santander] for the town of Reynosa after Mass on Sunday February 8th, 1953. St. Paul's Epistle in the Mass spoke of the "snares of false brethren". There was a heavey snowfall at the Puerto del Escudo pass. What happend was that the foundation stone was not laid at that time; bishop Barbado Viejo, Chancellor of the University [of Salamanca] had a heavy cold. On Monday the 9th he received us  at the episcopal palace; it was a sunny morning with clouds and a gusty wind. This leads to the following anecdote: as we awaited the bishop in the reception area, Marcial Maciel looked down from the first floor on some Sisters of Charity and laughed watching the unfortunate nuns battle against the gusty wind on the street outside with their enormous seagul veils .  For his part the bishop had a razor gash on his cheek which he dismissed good humoredly saying he had a fight with Stalin -with a strong accent on the "i". [Stalin was in fact to die a month later].

The night before, Sunday 8th, we had dinner with Maciel and Lopez at "Casa Paco" and then we went to rest at the "Casa Canuto" [Siberia would have been warmer]. Fr. Maciel went to stay at the Gran Hotel [the best in town] ...leaving instructions with Gregorio: while Gregory was saying Mass for the other three Apostolic brothers in the morning at the Church of St. Martin, I was to go to see him at the Gran Hotel. I did. MM invited me to have breakfast with him and later invited me to his neat bedroom. He made me sit on the bed and began reading the newspaper to me about Pope Pius XII reading children's stories to North American children as a way to raise funds for Holland which recently had been hit with a rupture of their dykes. He then went on to try to seduce me to go to Rome before my time with the pretext that Jose Luis Fernandez (Tangancicuaro, Michoacan, Mex; an LC from 1948-54) would be of great help to me with his "Legionary fervor". I did not accept the proposal and told him I preferred to remain with my group of companions. Maybe he thought it better not to pressure me more at that moment.



Junto con Juan Jose Vaca, Juan-Manuel Fernandez Amenabar, Angel Saiz, yo
forme parte de los cuatro 'chicos historicos' (dixerunt) que acompaniamos
a MARCIAL MACIEL y a [l Padre] Gregorio Lopez para poner la primera piedra del colegio de la
carretera a Fuentesauco. Salimos de Ontaneda a Reinosa, despues de misa,
el domingo ocho de febrero de 1953. La epistola de San Pablo, en la misa
del dia, hablaba de las 'insidias de los falsos hermanos'. Una altura de nieve considerable por el Puerto del Escudo. Lo que pasa es que la primera piedra no pudo ser puesta entonces: el obispo Barbado Viejo y gran
canciller de la Universidad tenia una fuerte gripe. El lunes nueve nos recibio en su palacio: una maniana luminosa pero con nubes que barria un fuerte viento. Por ello, mientras esperabamos al obispo en su sala, MM,  desde el segundo piso se reia a la vista de tres pobres monjas de la Caridad,que, por sus enormes cofias blancas de gaviotas voladoras, no lograban avanzar en la calle. El obispo tenia una cortada de navaja en la mejilla, y nos dijo que estaba asi porque se 'habia peleado con Stalin, con acento en la 'i'. (Stalin murio al mes siguiente)

La noche del domingo ocho, cenamos con M. Maciel y Gregorio en la "Casa Paco" y nos hospedamos en la "Casa Canuto" (Siberia es mas calida). MM fue a hospedarse al Gran Hotel que dices y dio instrucciones a Gregorio para que, al dia siguiente, mientras Gregorio dijera misa en la iglesia de San Martin a los otros tres apostolicos, yo me fuera a buscarlo a el al Gran Hotel. Asi fue. Me invito a desayunar ahi. Despues me llevo a su bien ordenada habitacion. Me hizo sentarme en su cama y de un diario me leyo la noticia de que Pio XII, por Radio Vaticana, estaba leyendo cuentos a los ninos norteamericanos para reunir fondos de ayuda para la gente de Holanda, agobiada por la ruptura de los diques... Despues trato de seducirme para llevarme a Roma antes de mi tiempo, con el pretexto de que Jose Luis Fernandez (Tangancicuaro, Michoacan; LC 1948-1954) podria ayudarme mucho 'con su fervor legionario'. Yo no acepte y le dije que deseaba seguir con el grupo de mis companieros. Tal vez no creyera tactico presionarme mas.

Jose Barba Martin, Ph.D
=================================
[to be translated later]
En los ultimos dias de Abril del anio anterior MM habia separado a Armando Arias Sanchez (Zamora, Michoacan; LC 1947-1959) de su grupo y se lo habia llevado a Roma. A Ramiro Fenandez se lo llevo tambien antes de la edad debida. A Juan Jose Vaca trato de hacerle lo mismo y meterno en lun Liceo de Roma desde Diciembre de 1950. (Desde Noviembre de 1949, en Cobreces, MM ya venia abusando sexualmente del pobre muchachito).

Lo que dices de Ontaneda, de Jose Ma. Sanchez, etc. parece querer hacer entrever varias cosas. De los abusos (clonacion de abuso sexual transgeneracional -Scicluna dixit-) de Jesus Martinez Penilla a los
apostolicos estamos al tanto por la carta de 1976 de Juan Jose Vaca Rodriguez a MM. Penilla fue desterrado a la Siberia tropical de Chetumal, (MM nunca se autodesterro); y, como de Alfonso Valencia Castellanos (Cotija, Miachoacan; LC 1949-...) y de otros de alli no ha vuelto a saberse mas. Lo narrado en el libro de 1955 de Torcuato Luca de Tena "Embajador en el Infierno" (capitan Palacios: campania de la Legion Azul en Rusia) posee mas luces y menos sombras que ciertos recuerdos recogidos de muchos de nosotros.

De Alfredo Torres (Oakland, USA - Jacona, Michoacan; LC 1942-...) varios
podemos decir que de MM sabe todo y mas, pero que no ha tenido el valor de
poner su alma sobre la balanza, y, virilmente, decir la verdad ante los hombres. Psicologicamente 'no puede'. Como entre las algas de un obscuro lago fangoso, el y otros han quedado atrapados.

Que Dios nos de fuerza y nos sostenga. Por la verdad y por la justicia hay mucho que hacer aun. La historia (la grande y la chica) no ha terminado.

Ireland, Book Available in Ireland

Dialogue Ireland, the most important cult awareness group in the Emerald Isle has kindly agreed to make Our Father in bed, available in Ireland.

[2] Salamanca Foundation in February 1953 - Maciel's Modus Operandi and Sex Abuse of Apostolics

[SPANISH LANGUAGE VERSION]

Author of article below right during recent trip to Dublin, close to statue of Daniel O Connell, champion of Catholic Emancipation, translation to follow, if visitors show interest... Please COMMENT
--------

Ya que lo has iniciado, de la

Salamanca LC algo de 'microhistoria':

Junto con Juan Jose Vaca, Juan Manuel Fernandez Amenabar y Angel Saiz, yo


forme parte de los cuatro 'chicos historicos' (dixerunt) que acompaniamos


a MARCIAL MACIEL y a [l Padre] Gregorio Lopez para poner la primera piedra del colegio de la


carretera a Fuentesauco. Salimos de Ontaneda a Reinosa, despues de misa,


el domingo ocho de febrero de 1953. La epistola de San Pablo, en la misa


del dia, hablaba de las 'insidias de los falsos hermanos'. Una altura de


nieve considerable por el Puerto del Escudo. Lo que pasa es que la primera


piedra no pudo ser puesta entonces: el obispo Barbado Viejo y gran


canciller de la Universidad tenia una fuerte gripe. El lunes nueve nos


recibio en su palacio: una maniana luminosa pero con nubes que barria un


fuerte viento. Por ello, mientras esperabamos al obispo en su sala, MM,


desde el segundo piso se reia a la vista de tres pobres monjas de la


Caridad,que, por sus enormes cofias blancas de gaviotas voladoras, no


lograban avanzar en la calle. El obispo tenia una cortada de navaja en la


mejilla, y nos dijo que estaba asi porque se 'habia peleado con Stalin,


con acento en la 'i'. (Stalin murio al mes siguiente)




La noche del domingo ocho, cenamos con M. Maciel y Gregorio en la "Casa Paco" y


nos hospedamos en la "Casa Canuto" (Siberia es mas calida). MM fue a


hospedarse al Gran Hotel que dices y dio instrucciones a Gregorio para


que, al dia siguiente, mientras Gregorio dijera misa en la iglesia de San


Martin a los otros tres apostolicos, yo me fuera a buscarlo a el al Gran


Hotel. Asi fue. Me invito a desayunar ahi. Despues me llevo a su bien


ordenada habitacion. Me hizo sentarme en su cama y de un diario me leyo la


noticia de que Pio XII, por Radio Vaticana, estaba leyendo cuentos a los


ninos norteamericanos para reunir fondos de ayuda para la gente de


Holanda, agobiada por la ruptura de los diques... Despues trato de


seducirme para llevarme a Roma antes de mi tiempo, con el pretexto de que


Jose Luis Fernandez (Tangancicuaro, Michoacan; LC 1948-1954) podria


ayudarme mucho 'con su fervor legionario'. Yo no acepte y le dije que


deseaba seguir con el grupo de mis companieros. Tal vez no creyera tactico


presionarme mas.

En los ultimos dias de Abril del anio anterior MM habia


separado a Armando Arias Sanchez (Zamora, Michoacan; LC 1947-1959) de su


grupo y se lo habia llevado a Roma. A Ramiro Fenandez se lo llevo tambien


antes de la edad debida. A Juan Jose Vaca trato de hacerle lo mismo y


meterno en lun Liceo de Roma desde Diciembre de 1950. (Desde Noviembre de


1949, en Cobreces, MM ya venia abusando sexualmente del pobre muchachito).




Lo que dices de Ontaneda, de Jose Ma. Sanchez, etc. parece querer hacer


entrever varias cosas. De los abusos (clonacion de abuso sexual


transgeneracional -Scicluna dixit-) de Jesus Martinez Penilla a los


apostolicos estamos al tanto por la carta de 1976 de Juan Jose Vaca


Rodriguez a MM. Penilla fue desterrado a la Siberia tropical de Chetumal,


(MM nunca se autodesterro); y, como de Alfonso Valencia Castellanos


(Cotija, Miachoacan; LC 1949-...) y de otros de alli no ha vuelto a


saberse mas. Lo narrado en el libro de 1955 de Torcuato Luca de Tena


"Embajador en el Infierno" (capitan Palacios: campania de la Legion Azul


en Rusia) posee mas luces y menos sombras que ciertos recuerdos recogidos


de muchos de nosotros.






De Alfredo Torres (Oakland, USA - Jacona, Michoacan; LC 1942-...) varios


podemos decir que de MM sabe todo y mas, pero que no ha tenido el valor de


poner su alma sobre la balanza, y, virilmente, decir la verdad ante los


hombres. Psicologicamente 'no puede'. Como entre las algas de un obscuro


lago fangoso, el y otros han quedado atrapados.






Que Dios nos de fuerza y nos sostenga. Por la verdad y por la justicia hay


mucho que hacer aun. La historia (la grande y la chica) no ha terminado.






JBM

[1] Salamanca Foundation History - Maciel's Modus Operandi and Sex Abuse of Apostolics

Testimony of Salamanca novice whose parents cooperated with Fr. Maciel and his foundation. This reflects Fr Maciel's charisma, leadership, or exploitation -it depends on your point of view- of others.

Around the early 1950s Marcial Maciel came to Salamanca, together with our dear Carlos de la Isla. My father helped Fr. Maciel buy the land to build the Novitiate of Salamanca.

Marcial Maciel was often in my parents' house. Carlos de la Isla often visited us in the evenings as he was alone, living in a pension [lodgings] that my parents found for him.

When Maciel came to Salamanca with Donia Flora Barragan de Garza, they used to stay at the now defunct Gran Hotel, near the Plaza Mayor. Maciel asked my parents for one of my sisters to accompany Donia Flora during the nights. My sister, Maria Antonia, about 16-17 at the time became Flora's maid in waiting.

For many months, I dont remember how many but it was a long time, my mother, my aunt and Fr. Fernando Vergez LC's mother, whom Maciel called "the holy women" would cook for the Legionaries until they hired proper staff. They did this as volunteers without pay. 

When I finished my Humanities in Salamanca [early 1960s], Maciel sent me to [the Apostolic School in] Ontaneda as a teacher. I spent over two years there until I decided to put an end to my involvment with the Legion. Maciel asks me to wait until he visits Ontaneda. Which he does. I give him my reasons. I tell him what I am seeing and living in Ontaneda with [the sexually abusive behavior] of  Fr. Jose Ma Sanchez, Brother Jesus Martinez Penilla, and his own. He asks me to go to Madrid, and start the Regnum Christi male section with Fr. Alfredo Torres Villanueva. I accept. (They send Arturo Jurado there, too). I stay in Madrid collaborando for two to three years until finally, and fortunately, I lose sight of them. That was 1969.

Author Note: Apostolic School, Junior Seminary; students were aged 11-15, more or less. This made for very young students entering the Novitiate in Salamanca, aged 15. When the first group of Irish candidates entered the Novitiate on September 15, 1961, we thought the Spanish and Mexicans were only "kids". For the most part they exhibited the enthusiasm and high jinks of 15 year olds.

Towards a True History of the Legion of Christ [Salamanca, Spain]

will share with readers two new narratives of the Foundation in Salamanca and how Fr. Maciel exploited the good will of two generous families

Fr. Neftali Sanchez xLC Celebrates Golden Jubilee of Ordination in Mexico

Fr. Neftali, still handsome after all those years. After leaving the Legion and Maciel in the 60s he turned to his native Michoacan, Mexico, and found a place for himself in the diocese of Morelia. Taken with local bishop Alberto Suarez Inda.

In my memoir I describe meeting Fr. Neftali, the second Legionary priest I ever met. "Fr." Coindreau, my recruiter, although he masquerades as a cleric, could not say Mass. Fr. Neftali, whose command of English was just beginning, was the first Legionary priest who came to Bundoran to minister to us postulants on a regular basis.

I never learned under what circumstances Neftali left the Legion not many years after. But he did leave. Like so many other exiting Legionaries he did not get his documentation straightened out and thus continued as an official  Legion member for decades. It is likely that the Legion did "not want to bother" the Congregation for Clergy by notifying them of this defection....

The good news is that Fr. Neftali got a life after the Legion and became a happy priest outside.

On the other hand, as one of the first ordained Legionary priests, personally recruited by Maciel, who knows what dreams he was fed as a co-founder of the glorious order. Why did he have to forego those dreams of greatness? What made him leave the Father that had recruited him at the age of 12?

Article in Spanish

*** Misa concelebrada y un gran banquete


El Sol de Morelia

24 de junio de 2009

Por Dalia

Morelia, Michoacán.- En medio de una gran emotividad el presbítero Neftalí Sánchez Tinoco dio gracias a Dios por los 50 años de ejercicio sacerdotal que le ha permitido realizar, lo cual tuvo lugar durante una misa oficiada por el Excmo. señor arzobispo de la Diócesis don Alberto Suárez Inda, concelebrada por 15 sacerdotes.

Con la humildad y devoción con la que cinco décadas atrás celebró su ordenación sacerdotal, el padre Neftalí seguirá pensando como en aquel ayer: "El Señor me ha mirado a los ojos y sonriendo ha dicho mi nombre", pues así fue elegido para una misión que ha cumplido satisfactoriamente, con gran entrega y estricta vocación como lo expresaron las palabras conceptuosas y elocuentes que en ese acontecimiento fueron vertidas.

Posteriormente, un extraordinario banquete en la Universidad Vasco de Quiroga reunió a más de 300 personas que manifestaban su cariño, respeto y admiración al sacerdote, pues sus familiares de diversos puntos del mapa se hicieron presentes, además de tantas personas de las que se ha hecho querer, respetar y admirar ampliamente.

El escenario lucía armonioso y bellísimo y las notas del conjunto Ad Libitum, así como la participación de una soprano que brindó estupendas interpretaciones de María Greever y otros autores, dieron realce al evento en el que los platillos de gran gala hablaban de la excelencia propia de un acontecimiento tan trascendental. (I)

Fr Yepez & Fr. Neftali, LC Founders in Ireland [Excerpt from early draft]

In my memoir I write about these good Legionaries

Francisco Orozco Yepez, - in the picture below with Irish TV personality Mike Murphy and wife- followed Jimmy Coindreau's footsteps in Ireland, and died under strange circumstances not long after in Rapallo, Italy

I also describe Fr Neftali Sanchez-Tinoco, of the Omar Sharif smile, who left the Legion soon after serving in Ireland, was never officially discharged, and took up teaching in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, still a priest.
----

[Excerpt from old draft]

8.

After a few weeks we joyfully welcomed three new formators from Rome and were instructed to call them ‘Father’, even when it transpired that they, like our recruiter, were not ordained priests or even deacons, but rather theology students. I enjoyed having these ‘Assistants’ with us in our daily activities, including basketball and soccer, lending a certain ‘gravitas’ to our high jinks. They were: “Frs.” Ramiro Fernandez, huge by Mexican standards, and like a wall on the soccer field, who also seemed almost child-like in his demeanor. Angel Sáez, a dark- haired Spaniard with glasses, was the most intellectual of the three. I got on fine with him except one day he got angry at me: I kept moving the dust pan into which he was sweeping the dirt, and he thought I was toying with him. My honest intention was to accomodate his sweeping, and I was hurt when he angrily chided me.

9.

Our favorite was Francisco Orozco Yepez, ‘Fr. Yepez’, the most Mexican, and 'natural', of the three, who was very funny. He made the most wonderful mistakes learning English idioms, and then laughed at his own mistakes. -‘Brothers, how is my English? Very good, Yes? Sooner and later it will be better! No?’ The story was told of him arriving at Dublin Airport and asking for a taxi to take him to Bundoran [over a hundred miles away]. He meant to ask for a 'very inexpensive' [Sp.'muy barato'] ride but got the words mixed up and told the taxi rank he wanted ‘very expensive’[Sp. muy caro'] taxi. They were surprised that a Catholic priest should be looking for a very expensive taxi but one driver did oblige, and thereupon made a fortune. Maybe this anecdote was embellished by Nuestro Padre to get a kick out of Fr. Yépez's apparent naivete.

10.

Father Neftali, an ordained LC priest -who years later exited the Legion to join the diocesan clergy— also arrived around this time. Being very athletic and skilled at soccer and basketball he was much admired by our group. On one hike he further enhanced his rating by showing how strong he was by lifting a weight Fr. James couldn’t handle. As Fr. Neftalí -- Neftalí Sánchez-Tinoco, one of the Mexican founding children recruited by Fr. Maciel-- was the first Legionary priest available to us, we began to go to confession to him. Up to then we had been traveling to the local community of Franciscan friars for our sacramental needs. Father James also explained that it was customary in the Legion to, in his words, ‘pass to spiritual direction.’ I had never had ‘spiritual direction’ before but he explained that it was just a chat with the Padre. Trying out this new experience was not too bad because Fr. Neftalí was kind and refined, and he looked like the movie star, Omar Sharif. I was not sure what to talk about but I went to see him anyway. After a visit or two he revealed to me that Nuestro Padre had noticed my ‘qualities’ and that he would like me to consider leaving at short notice, in a few weeks time, to start my Holy Novitiate overseas. Although this meant suddenly separating from my family, friends and country it made me feel very special. I would be among the first eight Irish Legionaries to begin Novitiate. I was being chosen from the total of about thirty, including those ‘brothers’ in cassock who had been there before our large group arrived. I would embark on an exciting adventure to a foreign clime and culture. I had only left my country once before with my father, when he took me by ferry to watch a soccer match in murky Liverpool.

Bundoran by the Sea.....[Excerpt from early draft]

One evening, as the sun was setting over beautiful Donegal Bay, "Nuestro Padre" Maciel led a session of "Questions"

BUNDORAN BY THE SEA



5.


On the appointed day, July 1, 1961, I –a naïve and sentimental young Catholic-- was picked up at my door, suitcase in hand, by a VW van carrying other students my age for a two-month ‘holiday’. On arriving at the postulancy residence, Bundrowes House, Bundoran, Co. Donegal, half a dozen other young ‘postulants’ in black cassocks, recruited previously during the school term, welcomed us. We, the newcomers, looked up to the older 'brothers’ to give us good example and leadership in preparing to be Legionaries. About thirty 17 and 18-year-olds, mostly from Irish Christian Brothers high schools soon attempted to adjust and bond. Together we formed the first group of ‘postulants’ from our country to join this Mexican order and felt very privileged to be the ‘co-founders.’ I was intrigued by the foreign dimension, since the leaders came from another continent with different language and customs. I made allowances from the start for the fact that they did not speak our language fluently. Thus when anything they said struck me as odd or maybe even clumsy or hurtful, I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I found the atmosphere welcoming and supportive. However, the first piece of advice I received from my recruiter—who was now acting as my formator—was not to be ‘familiar’ with the other boys –we were walking alone close by the Atlantic cliffs-- Instead I was to start calling them ‘Brother Joseph’ instead of ‘Joe’ or ‘Michael’, and not slap them on the back or shoulder in comraderie. I was privileged to have a very nice older Irish brother as my ‘angel’ during my postulancy. ‘Bro.’ James Whiston had come to Bundrowes months before the big batch arrived in July. Wearing a black cassock, he and the other ‘older Brothers’ took their postulancy very seriously, almost as if they were ‘novices’. I remember that Pearse Allen, Michael Caheny., Francis Coleman, Declan French, Maurice Oliver Mc Gowan – from just a few farms down the road in County Leitrim—and Sean X belonged to that group.


6.


As I became more comfortable with Bro. Whiston -God Bless him wherever he is- I discovered with some disappointment that he had been the one to write the personal letters from ‘Father James’ which I had received during the preceding months. This also implied that he had read my very personal letters to the Padre. Though surprised and hurt, I did not give this too much thought either, or resent it, since my enthusiasm for the Legion was high. I was thoroughly enjoying the fast pace of daily life, full of hiking, swimming, soccer games, Spanish classes, and chores. ‘Father James” began our days with First Prayers and Morning Meditation and ended them with Examination of Conscience at Last Prayers. I remember who 'funny' it sounded when Fr. James talked about Jesus hanging ‘nak’t’ on the cross.

 7.


I also felt very special because the founder of the order, whom we were supposed to call 'Nuestro Padre' [I later learned it was the name of veneration the first Jesuits gave to Saint Ignatius], came to visit us. I vaguely remember the day we met as he came striding along the road to meet us as we were walking back to Bundrowes. He greeted each one of us personally in a very gracious manner, although I could not understand a word he said. I can't remember how many days Fr. Maciel spent with us 'postulants.' He did not stay at the drafty Bundrowes House with 'the community' [as a good relgious should, as i was to learn from the Legion rule]. Presumably he stayed in Bundoran town. His status was so elevated that none of us would allow himself any curiosity -much less comparison- in that regard. One evening on the beach at Mullachmore we 'chilled' with Nuestro Padre. Our directors introduced us to him. Someone mentioned that I liked to sing, and --following an old Irish tradition-- I was asked to sing my party piece. At that time I was a big Johnny Mathis fan and so obliged the assembly with my rendition of 'A Certain Smile'. Such was my naive and sentimental disposition. I never knew what Nuestro Padre's reaction was to Fr. James translation of the lyrics.


One evening in the main room of Bundrowes House, as the sun set over beautiful Donegal Bay, Fr. Maciel granted us a session of ‘Questions,’ with ‘Father James’ as interpreter. He took the opportunity to explain the history of the Legion to us, the need the world had of vocations, and the Holy Father’s plea for priests for Latin America. We were so awed by him that there were not many questions. As a seventeen-year-old eager to become a missionary as soon as possible --I had heard it took fifteen years to be a Jesuit--I was eager to know. My 'fatal attraction' for questions led me to ask how long it would take to be ordained a Legionary. 'About seven years', was the response through the interpreter. This was what I wanted to hear.


TRUTH: LC training usually takes anywhere from 13-20+ years, depending on a variety of unpredictable factors: Novitiate [2], Juniorate [2], Philosophy [3], Apostolic Practices [2-4+], Theology 4.

Priest Sex Abuse in Italy

Priestly Sex Abuse begins to surface in Italy after centuries of Abuse.

I always held that sex abuse was not worse in the USA than in other countries; such an unfounded statement was clearly a defensive blanket to cover a multitude of sins in one's own backgarden. The denial and minimization of Mexican bishops has been clear. The same could be said about the rest of Latin America. That is why it is so important for the Italians to start ferreting out the truth and uncorking this vintage vinegar hidden away in parish, school and bishops cellars for centuries.

[Excerpt] "Bewitched" from "Our Father Maciel..." previous Draft

-------

Bewitched, Bewildered and Bothered, Irish Cofounder,

by Naive and Sentimental Catholic Boy


Part I - 'Bewitched',

First Contact, Grooming, Postulancy, Sudden Travel & Entering Novitiate in Salamanca, Spain


THE BRAHMIN'S SON

The first light of day entered the room. The Brahmin saw that Siddhartha’s knees trembled slightly, but there was no trembling in Siddhartha’s face; his eyes looked far away. Then the father realized that Siddhartha could no longer remain at home –that he had already left him.
The father touched Siddhartha’s shoulder.
‘You will go into the forest,’ he said, ‘and become a Samana. If you find bliss in the forest, come back and teach it to me. If you find disillusionment, come back, and we shall again offer sacrifices to the gods together. Now go, kiss your mother and tell her where you are going. For me, however, it is time to go to the river and perform the first ablution.’
He dropped his hand from his son’s shoulder and went out. Siddhartha swayed as he tried to walk. He controlled himself, bowed to his father and went to his mother to do what had been told him.

Herman Hesse, Siddhartha, Picador, 1973, London, page 10

B E W I T C H E D !

1.
I was born in Ireland in 1943 and as a young altar-boy had entertained thoughts of being a missionary. I would realize decades later my Irish Catholic mother, --a forceful woman in her own right— had a fair amount to do with that. When I look back to 1961 I see a very sheltered, very shy, very pious, very naïve and sentimental Catholic boy; a soccer-crazy teen who was stubborn enough to play this ‘foreign’ game despite a ban on it by the Gaelic Athletic Association which was enforced at his Irish Christian Brothers school. My peculiar brand of juvenile piety could be gauged by my daily Mass and Communion and an altar in my room to the deceased Manchester Uniter soccer players killed in the Munich air disaster.

2.
During my ‘Leaving Cert’, or ‘senior’ year, a vocational recruiter with a strange accent calling himself ‘Father James’ spoke to our all boys’ class. He distributed cards and I filled mine out indicating that I had an interest in exploring my vocation with his ‘order’. I already knew that I did not want to be a ‘Brother’, like my physically abusive teachers, or a diocesan priest, i.e. boring, and none of the other ‘Missionary’ orders that spoke to us had satisfied me. The Legion’s glossy brochure, featuring His Holiness Pope John XXIII’s plea for vocations to Latin America, and the ‘Mexican cowboy’s’ pep talk won me over. Once or twice monthly after that we exchanged letters and he encouraged me to consider joining other boys for fun vacations during the summer to begin my training as a missionary.

TRUTH: 'Father' James was a non-ordained Legionary seminarian for several years while he masqueraded as a priest-vocation-recruiter in Ireland.

3.
The day in spring Fr. James came to the school to interview the applicants I was excited for myself and pleasantly surprised when two other boys showed up: my old buddy John Devlin, and another friend of ours, Thomas Moylan. Head Brother ‘Butch’ Feeney went straight to the point: ‘Have you thought about joining an Irish group instead of a foreign outfit like this that nobody knows…’ The three idealists paid no attention to that observation…as we excitedly awaited our first individual interview with Fr. Coindreau in a room we had never been to at St. Vincents. We were under the spell.

UPDATE 09/12/09
John Devlin, with whom I walked to school during my childhood, was ordained in the LC in the 70s and became Fr Maciel's secretary, for years operating out of the office at Quinta Pacelli in Tlalpan, Mexico City. He loved having the power to give and refuse audiences with Nuestro Padre and enforcing his orders, such as sending his old school chum Paul to the Missions for the second time in 1982.
Thomas Moylan was another school buddy of Paul and John, though he belonged to 6B at St Vincent's, Glasnevin, Dublin. The three of us were interviewed by "Fr." Jimmy Coindreau in the spring of 1961. He has always been a party man and spoke up against me during my "Gunfight at the Cotija Corral" with Fr. Maciel. He is still in and has occupied a number of middle level positions.


4.
Jack Lennon was non committal when approached by his son as he hauled his motorbike into the side passage by the semi-detached Corporation house on Fassaugh Ave, Cabra West.
‘Whatever you want, son’. A small, stoic and kind man, Jack probably did not know what to say, because he was not good at articulating feelings or sensitive subjects. And if he did know what to say, he did not say it. As the youngest son of a large, litigious, and tightly knit clan, he was a survivor peacemaker by family, and by marriage. Christina was not very articulate either but she was more outspoken and could be blunt. She had a way of making her wishes known to her husband and children. She was the forceful parent in most things, from running the home to making decisions regarding their lives. They did not want to displease Mammy as they had learned from an early age that this might make her ‘get into a huff’, chide them, emotionally reject them, or even hit them. Or get Daddy to give them a good spanking with his calloused hands when he came home from work as a printer's assistant. Breaking the news to her about possible ‘going away’ [to a seminary] had to be done. ‘Mammy, a Mexican priest came into the school a few weeks ago and when he asked was I interested in being a Missionary, I said yes.’ -‘Oh, that’s nice. You know I always thought you had a vocation. You have always been such a good boy and never done anything to hurt Mammy’s feelings.’ -‘Well, he has been writing to me and he is inviting me to go on holidays to Bundoran during the summer.-'Wont you miss your mother? But anyway, you might as well. Will the priest be coming ‘round to the house?'

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Legion finally Admits It & Founder Screwed Seminarians/Formation

Secret Letter of Legion Superiors to Naive Regnum Christi Members

Thy Kingdom Come!
REGNUM CHR I S T I
MOVEMENT
_______
TERRITORIAL DIRECTOR

September 1, 2009

To Regnum Christi Members and Friends
Atlanta and New York Territories

Dear friends in Christ,
In Atlanta, we recently enjoyed a visit from our General Director, Father Alvaro
Corcuera. He celebrated Mass for Regnum Christi members and friends at the Pinecrest
Academy chapel. During his homily he touched on important points in reference to the
difficulties we have all experienced during these past months, shedding light upon them from the Gospel. He invited us to discover God’s mysterious design also within the realities we are living, which we never would have expected to experience. It was an intense moment of prayer and unity, gathered around Christ.
He has also traveled to Cheshire, Connecticut, to preside over the ceremony of the
profession of vows of a group of novices and religious on August 29. With this important step, these brothers continue their path to the priesthood in the Legion of Christ, at the service of the Church, by dedicating themselves to a mission that “is of fundamental importance and is worth devoting oneself to with broadmindedness and an unsullied heart…” (Letter of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to Father Alvaro Corcuera, March 10, 2009).
We are grateful to God for the gift of his leadership, full of Christian prudence and
charity. We are confident that the Lord assists him with his grace in the difficult task he has at this time.
With this letter we would like to share with you some of the thoughts and
recommendations that he has been offering to members of the Legion of Christ and consecrated
members of Regnum Christi through his talks, homilies and letters over these past months. We
are sure they can also be of help to you.
We also hope to remedy some of our shortcomings in communication –for which we are
sorry–, so that together we can continue walking what will surely be a long path of healing and reconciliation with those who have been hurt by the misdeeds of Father Maciel.

As priests, our hearts go out to all those who have been harmed or scandalized by his
actions. To all we extend a special apology on behalf of the Legion and our General Director,
Father Alvaro Corcuera, who has, in fact, begun to reach out personally and in private to those he
knows may have suffered most, offering his heartfelt apology and consolation, and will continue
to do so. As he wrote in his March 29 letter: “We are deeply saddened and sorry, and we
sincerely ask for forgiveness from God and from those who have been hurt through this.” We
also regret that our inability to detect, and thus accept and remedy, Father Maciel’s failings has
caused even more suffering.
In the recent past, after Father Marcial Maciel had retired, we came to know that he had
had a relationship with a woman and fathered a child. Even more recently, there have been
allegations of other relationships and other children. Given the partial nature of the information
available and the impossibility to evaluate immediately and in a definitive manner these complex
allegations, the Legion of Christ cannot, at this time, make a statement regarding them.
All this leads us to value even more the wisdom and pastoral approach of the Holy See
concerning the allegations of past sexual abuse against Father Maciel that had surfaced. As it was
stated in the communiqué published on May 19, 2006, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith investigated these issues and invited him to a reserved life of prayer and penance,
renouncing all public ministry.
As an institution, as a family and as individuals, this unexpected turn of events has been
traumatic. Being weak humans, even if reacting with Christian virtue, many of us have gone
through experiences of shock, anger, disbelief, denial and fear, both humanly and spiritually.
These emotions, the vast tangle of information, supposition, speculation and opinion, the
different cultural sensitivities, and the Christian duty not to publicize the sins of others, have
made it difficult to publish the sort of direct statement that many expected of us.
Added to this, is the fact that we did not know the whole truth, we may not know it yet,
and new information may well continue to come to light. What we do learn, we will address,
respecting the privacy of those who request it of us.
As Legionaries, consecrated members of Regnum Christi and Regnum Christi members of all
walks of life, we too have been experiencing a deep struggle. We are all wounded by this news,
and need the comfort and support of each other. We want to thank all those who have understood
the depth of our suffering, and offered their understanding and kindness. As we have just
mentioned, we wish to be close to anyone who has suffered in any way, and at the same time ask
them to live the Christian virtue of pardon from the depth of their hearts.

1. This brings us to a key point in relation to you, our friends. It is clear that all these facts lead
us to think about the past, the present and the future. Many of you have rightly asked if the
Legion has made or will make changes in its life. Yes…we have, we are and we will. Some
examples:

a. One of the questions that come to mind refers to the “safe environment and child
protection” measures in our communities and apostolates. Our Constitutions, other norms
and many elements of our discipline have always helped us to be particularly careful in
the dealing with minors. More recently we are in the process of accreditation by
Praesidium, a risk management organization now helping a great number of religious
institutions in North America. Praesidium is conducting a full review of our internal rules
and policies, as well as our training of all those who deal with minors. They will shortly
be conducting on-site visitation of several of our institutions to verify that what is on
paper is being applied. There are twenty-five accreditation standards to meet, covering
the areas of prevention, response and supervision. Here in the U.S. we have also set up an
external review board so that in the event of allegations of sexual abuse, we have the
advantage of “outside eyes” to weigh the evidence, issues and provide us with
recommendations. Praesidium accreditation is being promoted by the Conference of
Major Superiors of Men, which links all the male religious orders in this country.
We also fully comply with all diocesan standards, which vary from place to place.

b. On the financial side, for a long time now we have had yearly audits done by outside
accounting firms. We could not have acquired the loans we needed to purchase our
seminaries and found the many works of apostolate undertaken during these years
without systems in place of strict accountability and responsible financial management.
In recent years, due to the growth of our operations, we have put in place a still more
professional system of business management through the services of Integer Group.
Staffed by lay professionals, Integer has further improved our operating and management
processes to ensure the integrity of all our operations.

c. A further area of adjustment which has begun and continues in process is the way we
refer to Father Maciel in the Legion and Regnum Christi. While we cannot deny that
Father Maciel was our founder and did much good, neither can we deny the reality of
what has recently come to light and his grave human failings. We have taken progressive
steps to make sure that there is no inappropriate reference to Father Maciel (we have, for
example, removed pictures of him from our center; we have extensively edited our
websites; we are in the process of reviewing new editions of other writings, brochures,
etc.). All this has led us to what is most essential: to center our life, even more, in Jesus
Christ.
This is an ongoing and difficult process given the need to discern his person from the
solid Catholic doctrine that he transmitted and the legitimate institutional aspects of the
Legion of Christ and Regnum Christ. This discernment is not something that can be done
lightly or overnight. Father Alvaro has and will seek the advice and guidance of learned and prudent men of the Church to enlighten this difficult question seeking not to lose God’s gifts to the Legion and Regnum Christi.

2. We are also receiving enormous help from the Church, especially from the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, to whom we are truly grateful.
a. You know that he has mandated an Apostolic Visitation of the Legion. Archbishop
Charles Joseph Chaput of Denver has been appointed as Visitor for the Legion in the
United States and Canada. Archbishop Chaput will visit our seminaries and religious
houses, see our life up close and interview whomever he wants. His mandate will be to
question, probe and assess with depth and objectivity. Legionaries are free to speak and write to him with all their comments and questions. He sets his own timetable and the points he wishes to probe, and he will present his findings and recommendations directly to the Holy See.
For the moment, the Legion cannot make any specific statements regarding the content or development of the Visitation, since this would interfere with the work of the Visitors.

b. Questions and comments have also been raised regarding the “private vow of charity”
that was professed in the Legion. The rationale of this vow was to ensure that the
grievances one could have with his superior were brought to those who could resolve
them and thus avoid irresponsible criticism or internal factions that degrade unity. This
vow had been in place since 1957 and was approved by the Church. Pope Benedict XVI,
who has the power to bind and loose, asked the Legion to remove it, which we did two
years ago.
c. In the past two years, also following the indications we received from the Holy Father,
we changed our general practice of superiors being the spiritual directors of their
subjects. This practice was based on one of the century-old monastic traditions that view
the superior as Spiritual Father and Mentor of his community. We are seeing positive
fruits from this change of practice.
d. There also have been changes in the Legion regarding sacramental confession. In the
past, members were free to go to the Ordinary or Extraordinary confessors (assigned by
the General Director for each community). They were also free to go to any other
Catholic priest with faculties for confession. Members often asked to go to confession
with their own superiors.
Following the instructions of the Holy See, today superiors are no longer habitual
confessors for those under their authority.

e. We would finally like to mention that our general director is in frequent contact with our
superiors in the Holy See and also with the Apostolic Visitors to speak about these and
other complex issues.
These are some of the significant steps the Legion of Christ has taken. And as we said, we
expect more will come in time, with judgment and prudence.
Understandably, in the midst of the present circumstances there have been a few of our
members who have felt that they can serve God better by separating themselves from the Legion
and Regnum Christi; others have opted temporarily to step aside to see and evaluate, waiting also
to see the outcome of the Visitation. The vast majority has opted to continue doing as much good
as they can from where they are, knowing that our time here on earth is limited, and trusting that
with the guidance of the Church whatever needs to be corrected in time, and whatever is good
will be confirmed. Each one has made his or her choice before God, moved by their love for him
and their desire to serve him to the best of their ability, and for no other consideration. Let us
have great Christian understanding and respect for all. Each of us must presume the best and
purest intention in the other, pray for each other, and recognize that each one of us suffers and
recovers in different ways and at different times.
As Father Álvaro told us in his homily, in Cheshire, St. John Chrysostom teaches us fives
ways to reach reconciliation: asking for pardon, forgiving others, prayer, almsgiving and
humility (cf. ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, Homilies, PG 49, 263-264). Let us ask the Lord to grant us
the grace to walk this path, inasmuch as each one of us needs it, for his greater glory.
Loving, serving, and building together –that has been our life in the Legion and Regnum
Christi. As tragic as the failings of our founder are, they should not cause us to diminish our
efforts to bring souls to Christ, and to serve him and the Church selflessly in all our brothers and
sisters.
You have worked so hard to create apostolates, build schools, run youth clubs, form people
in the Catholic faith – and those efforts are good and real. Let nothing distract you from loving
and serving God in your neighbor. We enter now into a new chapter of our history which must
be focused on the pursuit of holiness and love for souls.

May we take inspiration from our Blessed Mother who “meditated all these things in her
heart” (cf. Lk 2:51). She will lead us along the path of God’s will and help us to respond as she
did: “May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).
May Saint Paul’s letter to the Corinthians inspire us during these challenging times:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God
of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort
those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share
abundantly in comfort too.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

You remain in our prayers, and we depend on yours.
Yours in Christ our Lord,

Fr Scott Reilly, LC
Territorial director
Atlanta Territory

Fr Julio Martí, LC
Territorial director
New York Territory