Our Father [Maciel] who art in bed, a Naive and Sentimental Dubliner in the Legion of Christ

[video] Maciel, the Psycopath

2012-02-09T16:53:00.000-08:00

People have been trying to figure out Marcial Maciel for decades. Even after his death he continues to be an enigma. But one paradigm may help us understand him a bit better.

Here is the whole enchilada

You may want to view it in small doses

See Narcissistic Psychopaths...

Cardinal Ouellet leads Call to Penance for Sex Abuse

2012-02-09T08:37:00.000-08:00

One cardinal who has been in the forefront of efforts to stem child abuse and sect like groups in the Church begs forgiveness while pondering the evil of Child Abuse

Legion of Christ dragging feet on Compensation of Maciel Victims

2012-02-05T17:11:00.000-08:00

Remember Our Father Maciel is in Kindle at Amazon
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Will somebody tell me if anyone has been already compensated for sexual abuse at the hands of Fr. Marcial Maciel

I am aware of a couple of cases which are being discussed with with Legion but payments seems to be delayed. Then, of course, if there is a gag order -Legion and Scientology specialize in this!- we will never know what has happened; or we will have to take the Legion's name; and, at this stage, the Legion does not really have a name.

Fr. Maciel in an intimate moment with Fr. Alvaro Corcuera; Fr. Alvaro became -with Maciel's approval- Superior General of the Legion

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I learn that Fr. Raymond Cosgrave, LC, is still doing his job as Legion troubleshooter, damage control expert, cajoler and threatener. In this he appears to be an example of a Legionary who has really assimilated the "Spirit of the Founder" in the worse sense of the word. May God forgive him.
[Below, Fr Raymond on the left addressing a group of politicians, including president at the time, Vicente Fox and his wife, Marta Sahagun, at the inauguration of the Anahuac University's Acapulco branch; the tropical heat explains why the rector is wearing the traditional 'guayabera' shirt [although I think I spy the clergyman around his neck underneath the guayabera- a Legionary must never forget he is a priest -or give the impression that he is

Legion Leaders Complicit in Cover up of Maciel's Sexual Misconduct?

2012-01-31T14:03:00.000-08:00

Fr. Luis Garza for years has been trying to separate himself from Maciel and his abuses, minimizing his knowledge and power in the Legion; although Fr. Garza has been virtually in charge of the order since 2006 and was a close collaborator with Maciel for decades before!
REGAIN posted recently:
http://www.regainnetwork.org/article.php?a=47246194

Belgium Bishops Raided by Police!

2012-01-20T13:00:00.001-08:00

The Monitor | Operation Chalice | January 20, 2012

In an unprecedented move this week, federal prosecutors in Belgium sent search teams into the headquarters of all eight of the country's Catholic dioceses. OnMonday, detectives confiscated files from the offices of the archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussel and the dioceses of Antwerp and Hasselt; on Tuesday, from the dioceses of Bruges and Ghent and the office of a religious order; and on Wednesday, from the dioceses of Liège, Namur, and Tournai.

This is the first time that an entire nation's Catholic hierarchy has been investigated by civil authorities. Part of an extensive investigation called "Operation Chalice," this week'ssweep generated more than 50 priest personnel files. Prosecutors will examine them for evidence that church officials culpably mismanaged abusive clergy.

Prosecutors are particularly interested in abusers supervised by former Bruges bishop Roger Vangheluwe, who resigned in April 2010 after admitting to molesting his nephewfor years. Belgian church officials subsequently acknowledged complaints from hundreds of victims, including 13 who committed suicide.

The world first learned of Operation Chalice (see overview here) on June 24, 2010, when armed Belgian police seized hundreds of records from the former archbishop's home and office and searched two prelates' tombs. Belgian courts ultimately ruled the files inadmissible but allowed the investigation to continue.

YOU'RE INVITED. If you are in the metro New York area, please consider joining Terry McKiernan and me at Cardozo Law School this Tuesday, January 24. We will be giving a talk moderated by Professor Marci Hamilton, followed by a question-and-answer session and an informal reception. It's free and open to the public. We'd love to see you! See Cardozo's flyer here.

Best,

Anne

Anne Barrett Doyle

Co-Director

BishopAccountability.org

Catholic Bishop in CA, father of two, resigns

2012-01-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

Well, Fr. Maciel is not the only one!

Reported today that auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, Gabino Zavala [smiling in photo] resigned after revealing he had two teen age children in another state.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The pope has accepted the early resignation of a Los Angeles bishop who recently acknowledged being the father of two teenagers.

Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala, 60, resigned Wednesday under the code of canon law that lets bishops step down earlier than the normal retirement age of 75 if they're sick or for some other reason that makes them unfit for office.

In a letter to the faithful, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez said Zavala had told him in December that he had two children who lived with their mother in a different state. Zavala subsequently submitted his resignation to the pope.

The archdiocese has offered spiritual and financial aid to help the children with college costs, Gomez said in the letter posted on the blog of the Catholic News Service of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Roman Catholic priests are required to be celibate, though Eastern rite priests can be married and married Anglican priests who convert can become Catholic priests. The celibacy requirement is often blamed for discouraging many men who would otherwise consider the priesthood.

Also Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI named Monsignor Cirilio Flores to eventually take over the San Diego diocese when Bishop Robert Brom retires.

In 2007, Brom oversaw a $198.1 million settlement with 144 people who said they were sexually abused by priests, at the time the second-largest abuse settlement since the scandal broke out in the United States in 2002.

Archbishop McQuaid of Dublin Investigated for Sexual Abuse

2011-12-27T20:11:00.000-08:00

Old picture of the revered and feared His Grace talking with the President of Ireland, Sean T. O' Kelly, and with Taoiseach, Sean Lemass;

Archbishop McQuaid was courted by Fr. Maciel to allow the Legion of Christ to open a house in Dublin in 1960; first he refused but then relented. See article following this news item. Notice discrepancy in LC posting regarding the year 1960/62

Group urges Ireland to study abuse claims against former Dublin prelate

Friday, December 9, 2011

By Catholic News S...

By Michael Kelly Catholic News Service

Add Comment

ShareThis DUBLIN (CNS) -- An abuse victims' support group has urged the Irish government to set up a statutory inquiry to investigate whether there is any truth to allegations of sexual abuse against former Dublin Archbishop John McQuaid.

The support group One in Four made the request after The Irish Times said it had established that Archbishop McQuaid, who died in 1973, was the cleric referred to in a supplementary chapter of Judge Yvonne Murphy's report into abuse allegations in the Dublin Archdiocese.
A spokeswoman for Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said the matter is the subject of a police investigation.

One in Four's executive director, Maeve Lewis, said an inquiry "is the only way to establish the truth of the matter. If (Archbishop) McQuaid is innocent of the allegations, then it will be an opportunity to restore his good name.

"If the allegations are true, then we must know the extent of the sexual abuse, who else was involved and, crucially, if the church or civil authorities of the time had knowledge of the abuse but failed to act. If records exist, they must be examined," she said.

Lewis noted that Archbishop McQuaid was the Dublin church leader for more than 30 years "and was, at that time, possibly the most powerful, influential and feared man in Ireland. If Archbishop McQuaid was, as is alleged, a sex offender himself, then it is no wonder that the secrecy and cover-ups which have characterized the church's handling of sexual abuse was so entrenched."
The Murphy Report, published in 2009, found that the reputation of the church and the avoidance of scandal had been placed ahead of the needs of children to be protected. It looked at the archdiocese's handling of more than 300 abuse claims lodged between 1975 and 2004. The report was critical of Archbishop McQuaid and three of his successors for failing to respond adequately to abuse allegations.
The supplementary chapter was published in July. It deals with two sex abuse complaints as well as a separate "concern" investigated by the Murphy Commission. One complaint alleges abuse of a 12-year-old boy by Archbishop McQuaid in 1961.

The prelate, who became archbishop of Dublin in 1940, is not identified by name in the supplementary report but is described as a cleric who "has been dead for many years."
The supplementary chapter reports that, in mid-2009, as the Murphy Report was being finalized, the investigating commission received information that "brought another cleric" within its remit. The complaint concerned an adult who, in 2003, alleged to social services that he had been abused by Archbishop McQuaid.

The 2003 complaint was not forwarded to Murphy due to what the commission described as "human error." It was only when Archbishop Martin discovered the allegation in May 2009 that the judge was informed.
The archdiocese then organized a further review of its files and found a letter "which showed that there was an awareness among a number of people in the archdiocese that there had been a concern expressed about this cleric in 1999." This is around the same time that journalist John Cooney published his book, "John Charles McQuaid: Ruler of Catholic Ireland," which first aired an allegation that Archbishop McQuaid had been accused of abuse. Historians at the time widely dismissed Cooney's claim.
Then in 2010, after the commission's report had been published, Archbishop Martin told it he had received another abuse complaint against Archbishop McQuaid. The 2010 complaint is the subject of a civil action against the archdiocese.

Copyright (c) 2011 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

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The Legion of Christ has been present in Ireland since 1960, when it opened its first novitiate in Dublin.



	The novitiate in Ireland.

In April of 1960, the Legion of Christ opened its first house in Bundoran, County Donegal, preparing the land for a new novitiate on Irish soil. On June 3rd of 1962, thanks to the support of the Holy See’s Nuncio in Ireland, Bishop Antonio Riberi, and the benevolence of the archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid, the novitiate was inaugurated in Hazelbrook House, Malahide. The current Legionary novitiate has been located since 1968 on the Leopardstown road in the suburb of Foxrock, Dublín.
In those days, Ireland’s Catholic tradition offered a very favorable environment for the formation of future priests and consecrated souls. For this reason, the first formation center for the consecrated women of the Regnum Christi Movement was opened in Dublin in the first months of 1970.
In the 1970s, the first language academies of the Legion were founded: first came Dublin Oaks Academy for boys, followed by its sister school for girls, Woodlands Academy, which was located in the same city. Since then, the Legionaries in Ireland have worked in clubs for teenagers and with Regnum Christi teams for youth and adults.
The project of founding a school for Irish children took a long time to materialize. The moment finally arrived in the year 2000 when they opened the Oakhill Junior School in the locality of Foxrock, Dublin. The school opened with great success, offering pre-school up to third grade.
At this time, the Legionaries and Regnum Christi members working in Ireland have developed other apostolates like the “Dal Riada” Center for Integral Development of the Family, which offers tools for family development in all its dimensions. Recently, they have also launched the "K4J" (Kids for Jesus) magazine of NET. The purpose of this program is to form and build up children’s clubs in Christian and families. They have also created the “Clonlost” Activities Center in Dublin, where youth and teenagers can receive academic and spiritual guidance in a healthy atmosphere.

Cloyne Report into Clergy Abuse final chapter reveals

2011-12-22T10:29:00.000-08:00

Final chapter of Cloyne Report unearths more damning evidence of cover up by Bishop and police

Chapter Nine published after High Court intervention

CATHAL DERVAN,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 8:40 AM

Updated Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 1:54 PM

Shocking allegations of a cover-up into child sex abuse allegations against a Fr Ronat have come to light with the publication of the final chapter of the Cloyne Report – including claims that an investigating cleric tried to suggest a teenage victim was to blame.

The most troubling chapter of the Cloyne Report, Chapter Nine has finally been allowed into the public domain on the back of a ruling by Dublin’s High Court.

The Irish Examiner newspaper reports that the newly published chapter claims that the cleric asked to examine abuse allegations against Fr Ronat suggested the teenage girl was to blame.

The new section of the report also found that the bishop’s advisory committee tried to ensure the young woman’s complaints were not treated as child abuse while police buried an allegation of child abuse made by a young boy against the same priest.

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The paper reports that Archdeacon Chris Twohig, a cleric drafted in to investigate the priest identified only as Fr Ronat, offered a disturbing analysis of allegations of abuse made by a young woman when aged 15-19.

Archdeacon Twohig asked in his report if it could be deduced that the girl was harassing or ‘besetting Fr Ronat.

He wrote: “Might it not be possible that (the girl) is the Ophelia of Hamlet - sweet bells jangled.”
The Cloyne Report found the Archdeacon’s report lacked any evidence of a genuine investigation and was not impartial.

“It seems to the Commission to be largely concerned with providing reasons why this might not be classified as child sexual abuse. It also, notably, seeks to lay the blame for what occurred on the girl,” the inquiry found.

The Examiner also reports that Fr Ronat, who also served as a career guidance counsellor, is accused of giving teenagers wine, hypnotising them and abusing while hearing confessions in his bedroom.

The 19th cleric against whom allegations have been made in Cloyne, Fr Ronat also defied instructions to stop all standard priestly duties and was found to have been turned up at confirmations.

Chapter Nine also found that former bishop and Vatican aide John Magee and his right-hand man Monsignor Denis O’Callaghan, the vicar general in the Cork diocese of Cloyne, failed the victims of clerical abuse.

The inquiry states that the pair deliberately misled authorities and did not report allegations as recently as three years ago.

Dr Magee, who resigned last year before the Cloyne Report was published, claimed that Fr Ronat only abused the girl when she was 17 - an age that ruled out paedophilia – even though she reported that she was abused from the ages of 15 to 19.

In total, 10 girls and one boy have made formal complaints against Fr Ronat, a pseudonym for the priest concerned as criminal investigations are ongoing.

The boy’s mother initially reported the abuse in 1996 but Monsignor O’Callaghan failed to report the allegations to police until 2003. No charges were brought and the inquiry is critical of the police reaction.

“The statement seems to have been put in a drawer and forgotten about until raised by this investigation,” it said.

Fr Ronat, who has yet to be convicted in relation to a child abuse matter, threatened to sue people complaining about him, the girl’s parents and even threatened legal action against then Bishop Magee.

It is also alleged that he used hypnosis on his victims.

The Cloyne Report had previously stated that failures in the handling of complaints against Fr Ronat rested mainly on Magee and the Monsignor, while at least three priests of the diocese also ignored complaints.

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2011-12-11T17:57:00.001-08:00

PITTSBURGH, Pa (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic priest was arrested on charges he viewed child pornography in the rectory of his Pittsburgh-area church, the diocese said on Sunday.

The Rev. Bartley Sorensen, 62, pastor of St. John Fisher Church in Churchill, Pennsylvania, was arraigned on charges of

possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony, according to the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

He was being held on Sunday in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of a $100,000 bond, jail officials said.

Sorensen was arrested after a church employee walked into the rectory on Friday and saw Sorensen viewing a computer

image of a young boy naked from the waist down, with the words "Hottie Boys" on the screen, police said. She alerted

diocesan officials, who immediately contacted police.

Allegheny County detectives found pornographic images of young boys on his computer, police said. During an interview,

Sorensen admitted to possessing at least 100 pornographic pictures of children, police said. He has not been charged with

abusing children.

Accusations of child abuse and sexual impropriety against Catholic clergy in the United States have rocked the Catholic

Church since 2002, and the church has paid out some $2 billion in settlements to abuse victims.

The pornography arrest also comes amid a series of separate scandals that have seen a steady march of men make abuse

accusations in recent weeks against coaches at Penn State University, Syracuse University and most recently against a top

official at the Amateur Athletic Union.

The Pittsburgh diocese said in a statement that Sorensen had been placed on administrative leave.

"The viewing of pornographic images involving children is a disturbing and criminal act," the statement said. "The Diocese

of Pittsburgh is cooperating to the fullest extent in the investigation of this incident."

A priest for 35 years, Sorensen had been a pastor at St. John Fisher only for several weeks, having been previously assigned

for nine months to St. Anne Church in Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania. His past includes an assignment as chaplain at West

Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh.

The Rev. Ronald Lengwin, diocese spokesman, said the diocese had provided Sorensen with the names of several possible

attorneys after his arrest but it was unclear who he had retained for the criminal case.

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Cynthia Johnston)

Stronger Sanctions for Maciel and Paterno

2011-12-06T05:02:00.001-08:00

Marci Hamilton, a prominent lawyer who specializes in child abuse wrote recently apropos the Sandusky scandal that Child Abuse deterrents need to be stronger

Understanding Sandusky and Maciel, the Grandiose Narcissist

2011-11-23T09:39:00.001-08:00

Magnificent talk by priest on the phenomenon of the Pedophile Grandiose Narcissist

The parallels between recent sex abuse cases are disturbing

2011-11-17T12:46:00.001-08:00

SNAP: The parallels betweenrecent sex abuse cases are disturbing
Statement by Barbara Dorris, Outreach Director of SNAP, the SurvivorsNetwork of those Abused by Priests (SNAPdorris@gmail.com,314-503-0003)

The parallels that can be drawnbetween the scandal at the Citadel and the situation at Penn State are disturbing.

At both institutions, a man ina position of authority and influence used his status to approach, groom, andultimately molest young boys. At both institutions, reports were made to thepredator's superiors that something wrong was happening. And at bothinstitutions, these superiors failed to act. Through their efforts to protectthe name and reputations of their respective institutions, officials at PSU andthe Citadel allowed more children to be victimized.

What is most disturbing aboutthese scandals, however, is that they are not new or unheard of. Rather, theseare a recent reiteration of the same type of cover-up that has plagued otherorganizations that held their reputations above the safety of children;institutions like the Boy Scouts of America, the Church of Latter Day Saints,and to a much greater extent, the Catholic Church.

What is different about PSU andthe Citadel, however, is that the outside reaction - from parents, alumni,community members, and the media - has been visceral. These people have rightlybeen outraged, and heads have rolled because of their public outcry.

Yet we see no such outcry withthe church. On the contrary, people have jumped to defend the priests that havebeen accused of molesting young boys and girls, and moved quickly to attempt todiscredit those who came forward, citing misnomers as "this abuse occurredso long ago, get over it," "you're in it for the money, "and"if you were actually abused, what took you so long to come forward?"

The issue with this type ofreaction is not only that it is mean-spirited, but it deters others who mayhave seen or suspected clergy abuse from coming forward, and it deters the typeof public outrage that have shamed PSU and the Citadel, and therefore, therepercussions that come with it.

So we applaud the reaction fromcommunity members and share in their outrage at the officials at the Citadel.Through their inaction, they allowed this predator to change hunting grounds -moving from the university to a local high school - and avoid responsibility,in the same way that the Catholic church has done for so long. We hope that afull investigation is launched in order to determine who knew what, and whenexactly they knew it, and we urge that this investigation be undertaken byoutside authorities. We also call on Citadel President John Rosa to do realoutreach, and do everything within his power to beg others who may have beenvictimized or seen these crimes occur to come forward, get help, start healing,and tell their story.

(SNAP, the SurvivorsNetwork of those Abused by Priests, is the world's oldest and largest supportgroup for clergy abuse victims. Founded in 1988, we now have more than 10,000members. Despite the word "priest" in our title, we have members whowere molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns,rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

Contact David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, SNAPblaine@gmail.com), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home,314-503-0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)

Former Israel President convicted of Rape and Sentenced to Jail

2011-11-10T13:39:00.001-08:00

Why did Maciel get away Scott free?

Israel continues to be very gender separated and women are still fighting for their rights in a macho dominated society; that is why humanists have hailed this verdict as an important victory

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the rape conviction of former President Moshe Katsav and ordered him to begin serving a seven-year prison term next month, a landmark decision that culminated a sordid five-year saga.

The rape conviction for the former head of state was hailed as a victory for women's rights and equality under the law, particularly at a sensitive time when Israel's liberal democracy has come under assault from extreme nationalists and the burgeoning ultra-religious minority.

"From this day on, let nobody dare claim that these are women who tried to conspire against the president. Rather they are brave women who must empower all harassed women who are afraid to complain," said Tzipi Livni, Israel's opposition leader and the nation's most prominent female politician.

It also completed the tragic ending for a man whose rag-to-riches story had served as a symbol of success for Mizrahi Jews, those of Middle Eastern descent who for decades were an underclass in Israel. Ordered to report to prison on Dec. 7, Katsav becomes the highest-ranking Israeli official to serve time.

The Iranian-born Katsav, 65, was convicted last December of raping a former employee when he was a Cabinet minister and of sexually harassing two other women during his term as president from 2000 to 2007. He received a seven-year prison sentence in March, but remained free pending his appeal.

Katsav has vociferously professed his innocence since the accusations against him first emerged five years ago, claiming he was the victim of a political witchhunt. And the case against him depended entirely on testimony, fueling a debate in Israel on the difficulties of prosecuting sex crimes.

But in a decisive ruling Thursday, the judges said his testimony had not been credible and accused him of exploiting his status as a high public official.

The former president "fell from the loftiest heights to the deepest depths," Judge Salim Joubran told the hushed court. "Such a senior official should be a role model to his subordinates. Every woman has a right to her own body. A right to dignity. A right to freedom. No one has the liberty to take any of those from her."

Katsav sat stone-faced throughout the session, briefly smiling wryly as it became clear his appeal was being rejected.

Katsav's attorney, Avigdor Feldman, faulted the judges for believing the rape victim despite serious holes in her testimony. "They would have believed her if she said the rape occurred on Venus," Feldman said.

Noya Rimalt, an expert on criminal law and feminist legal theory at Haifa University, said the prosecution prevailed in because of strong witness testimony. "Different women who didn't know each other told similar stories about the way he treated female subordinates. That is what the conviction was based on," she said.

Israel's presidency is a largely ceremonial office, typically filled by a respected elder statesman expected to rise above politics and serve as a moral compass.

The case against Katsav, which broke in 2006 after he told police one of his accusers was trying to extort money from him, shocked Israelis by portraying a man widely seen as a bland functionary as a predatory boss who repeatedly used authority to force sexual favors.

Katsav reluctantly resigned two weeks before his seven-year term was to expire in 2007 under a plea bargain that would have allowed him to escape jail time.

He was replaced by Nobel peace laureate and former prime minister Shimon Peres, whom he had bested in the 2000 presidential race, decided by parliament. But he then rejected the plea bargain, vowing to prove his innocence in court.

The lurid details of the case riveted Israelis. In one memorable moment, Katsav held a news conference in which he accused prosecutors and the media of plotting his demise because he didn't belong to the European-descended elite.

The Iranian-born Katsav moved to Israel as a child, spent time in an immigrant tent camp and grew up in the impoverished southern development town of Kiryat Malachi. Katsav became mayor of the town at the age of 24, and continues to live there.

Prosecutors and women's rights groups proclaimed the verdict a victory in a decades-long struggle to chip away at the nation's macho culture, which once permitted political and military leaders great liberties.

Yet observers noted the country — torn between a generally liberal judiciary, conservative religious currents and lingering gaps between men and women in the workplace — still has a long way to go.

Particularly in Jerusalem, Jewish ultra-Orthodox have tried to impose their social mores on the city. Posters depicting women are a rarity, and advertisers freely admit that they expect billboards with women's faces to be defaced or destroyed by religious vandals. Some buses and health clinics have been gender-separated, and recently, women were shunted onto separate sidewalks in one neighborhood.

In the military, traditionally an important melting pot, officials have considered reassigning some female combat soldiers because religious men don't want to serve with them.

Naomi Chazan, a leading women's rights advocate, called the Katsav ruling a "great victory," but said the issue of gender equality is an "ongoing struggle."

Chazan, president of the New Israel Fund, which supports progressive causes in Israel, pointed to "the ultrareligious extremists who are bent on imposing a very gender-segregated approach" on the public.

"That's the duality of Israeli society: a very liberal strain and a very retrogressive strain," she said.

A Brave Young Man reviews this Testimony

2011-10-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

(The author at 13, four years before being recruited in Dublin by a Legionary seminarian masquerading as an ordained priest -the first of many lies)

I am very indebted to Denver Dave for reading my memoir and taking the time and energy to write a very personal review. I salute him and the other brave men and women who dared to read something "not officially sanctioned" by Legion/Regnum Christi leaders and "spiritual directors", and who had the courage to step outside the compound to get an objective view of these cult-like organizations. In the process they help others see the light and walk through the dark tunnel of mind-control towards freedom, the freedom of the Children of God, in which they can now seek and find their Lord in truth and joy.
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5.0 out of 5 stars AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL TESTIMONY!, August 13, 2010

D. SADLER "Denver Dave" (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: "Our Father" Maciel, who art in bed: A Naive and Sentimental Dubliner in the Legion of Christ (Paperback)

This book contains a very powerful testimony of an amazing man on an amazing journey: before, during and after the Legion of Christ. As someone who has also had similar experiences with the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi movement, which is currently under review and reform, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to gain knowledge or understanding of these orders inside Catholicism. This insight comes from man who has experienced so much, learned and taught so much and helped so many who have left or tried to leave these orders--as well as their families. He has also sought to bring justice and healing to the masses - despite even being sued by the Legion at one time. I deeply honor and respect the work and testimony of this man who has helped many of us that have suffered though this crisis in many ways. More importantly, I respect his candor, sincerity and openness to discuss these issues even when he knew he would receive a great deal of turmoil, grief and criticism from even high ranked church officials. This man's honor, bravery and sense of decency are only few of the many qualities that I aspire to and hope to one day achieve. With the emancipation and solace I received from this book and the healing ministry of Mr. Lennon - I am that much closer!

Maciel compared to recent Founders to be Canonized

2011-10-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

Father Maciel with lover and daughter

Healing of US man key to Italian priest's canonization

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Thanks to the healing of a young man from the United States, who was severely injured in a rollerblading accident, Italian Blessed Louis Guanella will be among three new saints proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI in late October.

William Glisson, now 30 and married, was 21 years old when he and a friend were rollerblading down the Baltimore Pike in Springfield, Pa., near Philadelphia. Glisson was skating backward, without a helmet, hit a hole and fell, hitting his head.

The young man was in a coma for nine days and underwent skull surgery twice, but the doctors' prognosis was still grave.

A family friend, Dr. Noreen M. Yoder, gave Glisson's mother two relics of Blessed Louis Guanella. Dr. Yoder worked at a rehabilitation center in Springfield run by the Opera Don Guanella.

According to the website of the Opera Don Guanella, Glisson was released from the hospital less than a month after the accident and returned to work just seven months later.

Glisson's healing was accepted by the Vatican as the miracle needed for Blessed Guanella's canonization, which is scheduled for Oct. 23.

The Italian priest lived 1842-1915 and founded the Servants of Charity, the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence, and the Confraternity of St. Joseph, whose members pledge to pray for the sick and dying.

Also set for canonization Oct. 23 are: Italian Blessed Guido Maria Conforti, founder of the Xaverian Missionaries, who lived 1865-1931; and Spanish Blessed Bonifacia Rodriguez Castro, 1837-1905, founder of the Servants of St. Joseph, a congregation originally dedicated to educating poor women.

END

Ridding Catholicism of the stench of this Legionary of Christ By Hugh O’Shaughnessy

2011-09-22T19:07:00.001-07:00

Ridding Catholicism of the stench of this Legionary of Christ By Hugh O’Shaughnessy

Posted on September 22, 2011 by dialogueireland

Ridding Catholicism of the stench of this Legionary of Christ

The Guardian (UK), September 21, 2011

By Hugh O’Shaughnessy

The late Marcial Maciel Degollado did enormous damage, but finally the Vatican is cleaning up his scandalous mess

At last, the Vatican begins to move in earnest to clean up the scandalous mess of the egregiously wealthy rightwing Legionaries of Christ. Their members are known to some as the “millionaires of Christ” and their stench has been in the nostrils of Catholics for too many decades.

A start was made on 15 July to repair the enormous damage to the church done by the late Marcial Maciel Degollado, who founded the Legion of Christ in 1940. The pushy Mexican priest was the bisexual pederast, drug-addicted lover of several women and father of three who hoodwinked a succession of popes from Pius XII and who was eventually run to ground and disgraced by Benedict XVI in 2006.

At the start of 2011 Richard Gill, for 29 years a US priest of the Legionaries of Christ but who had left the Legion last year, wrote: “It is no exaggeration to say that Marcial Maciel was by far the most despicable character in the twentieth century Catholic Church, inflicting more damage on her reputation and evangelizing mission than any other single Church leader.”

Cardinal Velasio de Paolis, the canon lawyer and head of the Holy See’s economic affairs to whom the pope has given full powers over the organisation, has pushed its vicar-general out of his comfortable office in Rome. Father Luis Garza, a member of one of the fabulously rich Mexican families from the northern Mexican city of Monterrey who as a close colleague of Maciel Degollado helped to run the Legion and its assets of $25bn, has just been bundled off to New York to head its activities in the US and Canada.

The cardinal was appointed papal commissioner more than a year ago and moved so cautiously that those who inherited the Legion and its assets sat back and relaxed, assured, they thought, that the crimes of Maciel Degollado, 87, who died in opprobrium in 2008, would be swept under the carpet. According to authoritative Chiesa website, Garza even gave a press interview on 27 June announcing that he would stay on as vicar of the Legion until 2013 or 2015.

Now he has gone, leaving the startlingly handsome Álvaro Corcuera, the Mexican priest who was the closest collaborator of Maciel Degollado, as the senior cleric to take orders from Cardinal de Paolis. And the cardinal has hinted strongly that other heads will roll and stories bubble up about the man who used to be called blasphemously “Our Father” by his followers. One of these tales concerned the time when Maciel Degollado was found taking a break in a retreat house in Mexico with a lady and her daughter – before it was established that they were one of his wives and one of his children.

Corcuera and Garza, far from being left alone, are having to face a cataclysmic situation that Maciel Degollado brought about. The numbers seeking to enter the Legion and its lay section Regnum Christi have tumbled markedly, while rich and powerful allies have split off from the organisation – notably the Oriol family, a rich dynasty which had served to established Maciel Degollado in high society in Spain, helped him to collect money from the rich and had aided him to become acquainted with the dictator Francisco Franco.

Maciel Degollado left a series of dirty marks wherever he passed.

Gill, for instance, wonders why the Vatican department that deals with religious orders gave its approval in 1983 to a new constitution for the Legion, which has proved to be irregular and defective. Cardinal Eduardo Pironio, who headed that department and was one of the few senior Argentine clerics to have come out of his country’s dirty war with credit, clearly committed an error in approving an unsatisfactory constitution. Paradoxically he also happened to be one of the few leaders of the church in Argentina who stood up to the sort of raging conservatives who were attracted to the Legion. Because of this, Pironio received death threats from rightwing extremists in his homeland and had to flee to Rome. Worse, his reputation was gravely damaged.

How did Maciel Degollado fool such a succession of popes?

The literal meaning of his mother’s surname – which in Spanish fashion is inserted after his father’s surname Maciel is fascinating. The literal meaning of “degollado” is “a man whose throat has been ripped out”. How weird!

Sales Up!

2011-09-02T06:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks to readers and researchers for buying the 3 versions of my [same!] memoir:

Our Father Maciel who art in bed, hard copy and Kindle [$3.99]
Our Father who art in bed, hard copy

Exiting members continue to remark that the book helps them understand the Legion/Regnum, their experience in it, many readers have "Aha" moments, a freeing up inside, and continued healing.

Parents can also gain insight into their children's plight and how to treat them inside and outside the Legion/Regnum.

Pastors, Psychologists and Pastoral Counselors can understand what the Legion is all about -from the inside- and perhaps understand how it gets such a strong grip on young. idealistic minds.

Sex Abuse Victims of Fr Maciel's Sex Abuse Victims

2011-08-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

Dear readers, out of respect for the survivors of Fr.Maciel's sexual abuse of his seminarians, I have written little and with great prudence regarding the possibility that some of Maciel's victims could in turn become abusers (the % of victim/abusers is the subject of study, practically unknown, and believed to be low). The phenomenon is called "identification with the perpetrator" and the Legion has not been free of it.

A senior Legionary priest, recently transferred 'out of harms way' to Rome, who may in the past have been mentioned on www.regainnetwork.org, is one such perpetrator. Another of his victims, an American in his forties, has recently come to the blogger's attention.

I ask all readers to play for this man in recovery; and I ask the Vatican overseers, specifically Cardinal De Paolis, to look into this Sexual Abuse phenmenon in the Legion, not only by Maciel but by some of his victims who in turn became perpetrators.

Archbishop Chaput's response to this man's complaint was, to say the least, lookwarm.

Legionary Sex Abuse in Dublin Novitiate Ends?

2011-07-21T14:59:00.000-07:00

At the Entrance to the Legion Salamanca Novitiate it say: Christus Vita Vestra, "Let Christ by your Life"
In Dublin 'Your Life is Hell' was true for some novicies
The legion has just announced the closing of the Dublin Noviciate.
Here is what a man sexually abused there thinks about the reasons given by the legion and the sex abuse therin:

Regarding Dublin - there hasnt been an irish vocation since candidacy 1994. The house is very big - four floors. It has been financially viable for most of the time because of the two Oak schools (one for boys one for girls) which house foreign teenagers (11 - 16 perhaps) to learn english for a semester or a year or a summer program.

These exclusive english academies charge a fortune and in turn provide the up keep of the novitiate - so unless these schools have been hit, there isnt a particularly financial reason (Except of course that the LC would have to pay for the flights for all the foreign LC novices to move to Dublin.).

Originally the boys Oak school was in the same building as the novitiate - so when the boys needed to buy oil for the heating, there was no need for the LCs to buy it too (one single heating system) and when the boys larders were full of food and they were having their dinners and lunches cooked by hired kitchen staff, it was impractical to have a secondary LC kitchen staff and larder. So much of the novitiate expeneses were absorbed by Oak.

Regarding foreign novices in dublin - the majority were always from USA/Mexico. Europe has had a steady decline in vocations since the mid 90s, way before the crisis. I would wager that there is a real european crisis and there are simply not enough foreigners to go around the european novitiates: Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain - and im not sure about france?

I am left empty about this news, I thought I would be pleased. I would be perhaps more affected by the demolition of that building... But it is good that no more novices can be hurt in Ireland.

Maciel abused novices there, Guillermo Izquierdo also, Eoghan Devlin, and one more rector has been accused in recent years.

That is to say there has been abuse in that house in the so called noughties, the 90s, the 80s, the 70s and the 60s - since it was built.

This is an end, I hope, and not a transferral, to a horrible history.

Maciel and Legion Superiors "Masters of Deceit"?

2011-07-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

Fr. Maciel piously kneels at the feet of the man he has led up the garden path...

Fr. Maciel warmly embraces his closely cultivated protege, Alvaro Corcuera at the latter's ordination

Dear friends,

some thoughts from an old man..

http://www.johnlecarre.com/news/2011/07/10/john-le-carre-discusses-mi6-trust-nostalgia-and-the-new-tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-film

Excerpt from an interview with one of my favorite writers, John Le Carre; i was very impressed by the most autobiographical of his novels, The Perfect Spy, which is how having a father like his prepared him to be a spy. I have always thought of Maciel as "The Master of Deceit"

Many reflections could stem from this reading; i will share just one:
"Did living with Maciel prepare the superiors to also be 'masters of deceit'?

End to Sexual Abuse in Legion of Christ's Dublin Novitiate?

2011-07-18T05:49:00.000-07:00

The Legion announced the closing of the Dublin Novitiate this week and gave its reasons for doing so.
The Novitiate in Salamanca's entrance is adorned with the words from St. Paul [Fr. Maciel loved to quote him] "Christus Vita Vestra" "(Let) Christ be your life!" Some who were not so lucky might say "Let Hell be your life"

Here is what a victim of sexual assault in the Dublin Novitiate writes:

Regarding Dublin - there hasn't been an Irish vocation since candidacy 1994. The house is very big - four floors. It has been financially viable for most of the time because of the two Oak schools (one for boys one for girls) which house foreign teenagers (11 - 16 perhaps) to learn English for a semester or a year or a summer program.

These exclusive English academies charge a fortune and in turn provide the up keep of the novitiate - so unless these schools have been hit, there isnt a particularly financial reason (Except of course that the LC would have to pay for the flights for all the foreign LC novices to move to Dublin.).

Originally the boys Oak school was in the same building as the novitiate - so when the boys needed to buy oil for the heating, there was no need for the LCs to buy it too (one single heating system) and when the boys larders were full of food and they were having their dinners and lunches cooked by hired kitchen staff, it was impractical to have a secondary LC kitchen staff and larder. So much of the novitiate expenses were absorbed by Oak.

Regarding foreign novices in Dublin - the majority were always from USA/Mexico. Europe has had a steady decline in vocations since the mid 90s, way before the crisis. I would wager that there is a real european crisis and there are simply not enough foreigners to go around the European novitiates: Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain - and I'm not sure about France?

I am left empty about this news, I thought I would be pleased. I would be perhaps more affected by the demolition of that building... But it is good that no more novices can be hurt in Ireland.

Maciel abused novices there, Guillermo Izquierdo also, Eoghan Devlin too, and one more rector has been accused in recent years.

That is to say there has been abuse in that house in the so called noughties, the 90s, the 80s, the 70s and the 60s - since it was built.

This is an end, I hope, and not a transferral, to a horrible history.

Those annoying victims of sexual assault will not go away and leave De Paolis and Alvaro alone!

Bishop John McGee and Vatican Assailed by Irish Government

2011-07-15T15:45:00.000-07:00

Former Bishop John Magee

At the heart of the Bishop of Cloyne affair is a dark reality that is truly shocking.

Bishop John Magee was carrying out Vatican orders when he delegated the responsibility for the pedophile priests in his diocese to an underling and allowed him to overlook the worst abusers.

One wonders what pressing tasks the Bishop had that were so urgent that he could turnover such a critical and vital task to an underling.

Now we know why -so the Vatican fingerprints would not be on it.
The Vatican has long refused to sign off on the strict code of conduct put together by the Irish church after the sordid revelations about the past emerged. The key one was to report all suspected pedophiles to police.

As a Vatican man, through and through, Magee was following Vatican orders.

The Cloyne cover-up began into events that happened after the worst of the previous excesses were in the public domain and the Irish church had issued new firm guidelines which included giving any information to police.

__________________

Papal nuncio 'very distressed' over Ireland's Cloynes report

Bishop of Cloyne apologizes from American hideaway

Irish Priests face five years in jail if they fail to report child abuse
__________________

Magee is a Vatican creation, however, secretary to three popes and a man on his way to the top of the irish church until some internal scandal derailed him and sent him to Cloyne instead. He was still taking their orders however.

We can guess what his own scandal was after he attempted to kiss a 17-year old seminary student and said he dreamed about him, a fact included in the Murphy report

But he clearly never forgot his Vatican roots. It is a place where the current Pope has much to answer for on this issue, where Cardinal Law of Boston, a notorious enabler of pedophiles was promoted, where Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, the most courageous cleric standing in the face of this pedophile scandal, has been ignored and belittled.

The Irish government called in the Papal Nuncio in Ireland yesterday and demanded a Vatican response saying it was 'absolutely unacceptable' that the Vatican had intervened in Ireland and discouraged priests from reporting crimes against innocent children.

Foreign Minister Gilmore said what happened in Ireland was 'a totally inappropriate, unjustified, unacceptable intervention'.

'This is modern Ireland and this was a recent occasion of abuse of children and this was a recent intervention by Vatican authorities,' he said.

Once Irish governments would have quaked at the very presence of the Papal Nuncio, but no more.

Now the chairman of the Fine Gael party Charlie Flanagan, son of the most devout Catholic legislator in Irish history, Oliver Flanagan, called for the Papal Nuncio to be expelled

The nuncio's response was a polite buzz off, regretting the scandal but promising little.

Like the House of Bourbon the Vatican has learned nothing and remembered nothing.

Magee, now happily vacationing somewhere in America knows he has served his true lord and masters and to hell with the little children.

It is beyond cynicism and belief

Irish Bishop Continued to Cover Up Clergy Sex Abuse

2011-07-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

The same old sordid story; Monsignor Mc Gee was personal secretary to Pope Paul VI, among others; on the death of the pope he was assigned to a diocese in his native Ireland, despite rumors that he himself was an abuser; he has been accused of inappropriate actions with young men. It is possible that the late great Fr. Maciel would have known about Mons Mc Gee's proclivities and used this info to his advantage.. As a "friend of the Legion" Maciel could curry favors from him...Mc Gee was not the right man for the post and screwed up as a supervisor of his clergy. With skeletons in his own closet..
---

July 13, 2011

LATEST REPORT ON IRISH CATHOLIC CHURCH'S MANAGEMENT OF SEX ABUSE BY CLERGY.

The Cloyne Report has found that former Bishop John Magee falsely told the Government and the HSE that the Catholic Diocese was reporting all allegations of clerical child sexual abuse to the civil authorities.

It also found that the Bishop deliberately misled another inquiry and his own advisors by creating two different accounts of a meeting with a priest-suspect, one for the Vatican and the other for diocesan files.

Bishop Magee, whose resignation was accepted by the Vatican last March, is criticised for his handling of allegations.

The report was initially submitted to Government last December, but legal complexities meant it was not approved for publication by Cabinet until today.

Running to 400 pages and detailing findings on 19 priests who faced abuse allegations over a 13-year period, the report deals with how the Cloyne Diocese handled abuse allegations as recently as 2009.

The report criticised Bishop Magee for showing little or no interest in the management of clerical child sexual abuse until just three years ago.

In the opening pages, the report claims that the Bishop had 'detached himself' from the management of child sexual abuse cases. It declares that his response was 'totally inadequate'.

The Commission states that the greatest failure by the diocese was its failure to report all cases to gardaí.

In one case, the Cloyne second-in-command, Monsignor Denis O'Callaghan, withheld the identity of a perpetrator from the authorities and attempted to have a particular garda officer investigate it. The Garda Superintendent was found to have correctly disregarded the request.

Between 1996 - when the Irish bishops introduced guidelines for mandatory reporting - and 2005, the diocese failed to report nine out of 15 complaints against priests, which 'very clearly should have been reported'.

The report notes 'the most serious lapse was the failure to report two cases in which the alleged victims were minors at the time of the complaint'.

The Commission of Inquiry has also raised concern that there is no evidence of a garda investigation into two allegations of abuse against one priest.

The report draws attention to one case where despite garda assurances, the Commission can find no evidence of garda investigations into allegations by two women against a single priest.

The Commission states it is concerned and it does not accept there was a proper investigation into the complaints against the priest named as 'Fr Corin'.

The report also details how an allegation against Bishop Magee himself in 2008 was dealt with.

The Bishop allegedly embraced the 17-year-old youth and kissed him on the forehead. The behaviour was deemed inappropriate but not reportable.

New offence to withhold information from gardaí

This afternoon, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter published the heads of a Bill to make it a criminal offence for anyone not to pass information on to gardaí about the possible sexual abuse of a child.

Mr Shatter said the Cloyne diocese did not record information on complaints of sexual abuse and it was truly scandalous that people who presented a public face of concern continued with private concealment.

Speaking at a Government press conference, Mr Shatter said the Garda Commissioner had appointed an officer to examine the report and see if further action be taken against abusers in the report.

Now on Kindle!

2011-06-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

Hoping it can be helpful to exiting Legionaries, members of the Regnum Christi, their friends and relatives.

See Fr. Van Hove's review at Amazon books/paperbacks

At Amazon on Kindle, Our Father Maciel who art in bed

at 3.99

KINDLE cheapo edition soon available

2011-05-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

Betsheba and Fr. Maciel in one of his holier moments

the author of this bestseller has been working hard with Amazon to convert it to -Christiany, oops, no!- to Kindle

It will soon be available at $3.99 a shot

Vatican Punishes Bishop who Abused Nephew

2011-04-12T09:39:00.001-07:00

Vatican sanctions Belgian bishop who abused nephew

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Nicole Winfield, Associated Press

37 mins ago

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican has sanctioned a Belgian bishop who resigned last year after admitting he had sexually abused his nephew, saying he can no longer act as a priest in public and may risk further church sanctions.

The Vatican on Tuesday clarified the punishment against the former Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe after Belgian bishops reported over the weekend that he had merely been sent outside Belgium for spiritual and psychological counseling, a seemingly cushy punishment given the seriousness of the crime.

The decision was the first known application of the Vatican's new sex abuse norms approved last year giving the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith jurisdiction to investigate and punish bishops — not just priests — who abuse minors. The ultimate possible penalty: defrocking, or laicization in church-speak.

Previously, when bishops committed canonical crimes the pope dealt with them by delegating the cases to various Vatican offices or the Roman Rota, a Vatican court.

The Vatican has long been accused by sex abuse victims of having let off the hook those bishops who themselves molested minors or helped cover up the crimes of priests who did. The change in the norms was designed at least in theory to let the Congregation more easily go after abusive bishops and cardinals.

The pope, however, has the final say on Vangheluwe's punishment.

In a statement, the Vatican's press office said Pope Benedict XVI would eventually decide on a sentence based on Vangheluwe's diagnosis and prognosis from the psychological treatment he is receiving in exile, and also take into account "the suffering of the victims and the need for justice."

It said that while Vangheluwe is being treated, he isn't allowed to work publicly as a priest or bishop.

Vangheluwe, 74, resigned a year ago this month as Belgium's longest-serving bishop after admitting he had abused a boy for years as a priest and even after becoming a bishop in 1984. It later was established that the victim, who is now in his early 40s, was his nephew.

Revelations of Vangheluwe's abuse came amid the 2010 global eruption of the sex abuse scandal, when thousands of people came forward in Europe and beyond with reports of priests who had abused them, bishops who covered up for the prelates and Vatican officials who ignored the crimes for decades.

The crisis was particularly acute in Belgium, where in the weeks following Vangheluwe's resignation a church-appointed commission reported that hundreds of people had come forward with tales of abuse that had led to at least 13 suicides.

The revelations prompted Belgian police to raid the home and offices of Belgium's former top churchmen, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, and open the tombs of two archbishops north of Brussels in a search for hidden documents — moves that drew the stern condemnation of the Vatican.

The decision by the Congregation to go after Vangheluwe and prosecute bishops for canonical abuse crimes comes as prosecutors in criminal courts are for the first time targeting bishops and high-ranking churchmen for sex-abuse related crimes and cover-ups.

Philadelphia has been rocked by the indictment of a high-ranking church official on child-endangerment charges for having moved known abusers around. Monsignor William Lynn, the former secretary for clergy in the Philadelphia archdiocese, faces up to 28 years in prison if convicted. His defense lawyers have said Lynn didn't have any children under his care and never thought any children were being put at risk.

And next month, a federal court in Ottawa is due to put Bishop Raymond Lahey on trial on child pornography charges. Lahey resigned as bishop of Antigonish, Nova Scotia in 2009, after authorities conducting a random search of his laptop computer at Ottawa's airport said they found child pornography.

Vatican officials said the Congregation is awaiting the results of the Ottawa trial before proceeding with its own case against Lahey. Under the same May 2010 revision of the Vatican's sex abuse norms, acquiring, possessing and distributing pornography of children under age 14 years is considered to be an equally serious canonical crime that is dealt with by the Congregation.

There are several other bishops in the United States and Europe who have resigned in recent years after they were accused of abuse, including Norwegian Bishop Georg Mueller, whose 2009 resignation was made public during the height of last year's scandal.

Beyond Lahey, Vatican officials declined to say which other bishops might come before the Congregation for abuse-related canonical punishments.

One of the highest-ranking churchmen to resign because he himself was an abuser was the late Austrian Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer. He was forced to resign as archbishop of Vienna in 1995 over claims he had molested youths at a monastery in the 1970s.

The Christian Brother who Abused me

2011-03-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

I used a small pen knife to open the mail today: a slim Swiss, white cross on black background; a gift from a lady with a liking for sleek steel.

I can still see Bro. McNamee paring his nails with one like that in class 3B at St. Vincent’s Christian Brothers’ School, Glasnevin, Dublin fifty-eight years ago; I was nine. His fingers were well-manicured for a man of the cloth. Instinctively I found that a bit repugnant: too spruce or effeminate; maybe even gross.

Mammy told us never to perform our toilette in public. Another thought zeroing in after fifty-odd years: after our weekly ritual Saturday evening bath, as she dried us, for no particular reason she would intone:“Friday cut nails and Sunday cut corns; it were better for man if he never was born.” Was there a message there or did she, like most Dubliners, just like the rhyme?

And there was something sinister and repugnant about his self-absorbed gaze through those blue-tinted wire-rimmed glasses as he bent over me.

After that I would always be wary of men with blue-tinted glasses . They might do what he did to me... That.

Police Bust Large International Pedophile Ring

2011-03-16T16:44:00.000-07:00

reported today on yahoo

Senator Brown reveals Childhood Sexual Abuse

2011-02-16T13:09:00.000-08:00

A testimony of honesty, courage, and resiliance from Senator Brown of Mass

Cult, A Love Story by Alexandra Amor

2011-02-08T18:17:00.000-08:00

Allow me to introduce you to Canadian cult survivor, Alexandra Amor, and her award winning memoir.
----
About

My name is Alexandra Amor and I am the author of Cult, A Love Story. I belonged to a quasi-Eastern New Age cult in Vancouver, Canada from 1989 to 2000. The road of recovery from cult mind control is a long and arduous one and a discovery I made early on was that it is often a very lonely journey. For that reason I wrote this book to say to other cult survivors, “You are not alone. There are others who understand how you feel.”

I also wrote this book for the families and friends of all those who are involved in a cult. It is so difficult to imagine why anyone would put themselves in a situation as abusive and soul destroying as a cult. If you have a loved one who is involved with a cult, I’m sure you’ve asked yourself a thousand times how it is possible that the intelligent, sensible person you know cannot see that they are being manipulated. In the book I chronicle my personal descent as a model of how one gradually becomes coerced into believing that a guru is telling the truth, even when it causes personal pain and loss and the erosion of one’s spirit.

I’ve chosen the title of my book very deliberately to highlight the tragic, abominable paradox of cults: it is often love that is the lever that gurus use to seduce their victims and then to keep them in line and in their sway.

Writing the Book

It took me a year and half to write Cult, A Love Story, but it took me almost a decade to be ready to write it.

I began writing a mystery novel in late 2007, but during the early stages of that book I noticed that the subject of cults kept trying to insert itself into the plot I was trying to devise. I tried to push it away but it returned, persistently. After weeks of wrestling with this I realized that I needed to write my story of being in a cult. I needed to get that story off my chest and out of my body before I would be able to focus on writing fiction.

From January to September 2008 I worked half-time and wrote the book the rest of the time. Then, in September 2008, I closed down my home-based business completely and wrote full-time until April 2009, when the book was complete. Throughout the writing process, my biggest challenge was to clearly explain how one can be persuaded to believe in and follow a manipulative guru. It is an almost unutterably complex series of mental processes that a disciple goes through and I found it very difficult to express this in a way that potential readers who have never been subjected to thought reform would understand.

I’m often asked if it was painful and/or emotionally wrenching to revisit the events and experiences of my time in the cult. For the most part it was not; I had done a tremendous amount of personal healing work (including therapy and thousands of hours of journaling) before I began writing, so more often I felt challenged by the task of communicating in a clear yet hopefully interesting way. But there were moments when I found myself writing about a particular event that I hadn’t thought of for a long time, particularly if it involved the loved one I left behind in the cult, when I would have to stop typing and simply sit and allow myself to weep over my keyboard. When the pressure of that emotion eased up I would wipe my eyes and nose and keep writing. But later I might have to stop and cry again. I felt comfortable that this happened occasionally. It felt healing.

Writing this book has been a powerful and beautiful journey for me. It taught me several things I did not yet know about myself and about the impact the cult had on my life. It brought me closer to my family, because I was able to share for the first time some of the painful and debilitating experiences I’d had. It gave me a voice, something all cult members are robbed of. It taught me how to be a writer, something I’d been trying to learn for years. And it reinforced in me how passionate I am about helping others who are cult survivors.

In May 2010, I was the proud recipient of an Independently Published Book Award (IPPY) for Cult, A Love Story in the category of Autobiography/Memoir

Half a Million Dollars average to compensate 142 Victims from Dioces of Delaware

2011-02-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

Fr Maciel applauds from the other side

Diocese of Delaware just settled with 142 victims for an average of $500,000.00

77 million for 146 victims

Catholic lobby wants to limit statue of limitations for abuse suits

2011-01-20T15:18:00.000-08:00

Catholic lobby wants to limit statue of limitations for abuse suits

By Brandon Shulleeta Published: January 19, 2011

Catholic Church leaders hope to soften Virginia legislation that could open the church to new lawsuits claiming child molestation by priests.

The state Senate is considering a bill that would give child molestation victims a longer window of time to file civil lawsuits against both their perpetrators and organizations complicit in the abuse.

Companion bills had been filed in the House of Delegates and the Senate, but the House Courts of Justice Subcommittee last week amended the proposed 25-year limitation to eight years - after being lobbied by Virginia Catholic Conference Executive Director Jeff Caruso.

Caruso said in an interview that he told state lawmakers that many states have far lower statutes of limitations than 25 years.

Caruso, a spokesman for Virginia's two Catholic dioceses' bishops, said the bishops support a "reasonable" expansion of the time period in which child abuse victims can file lawsuits beyond the state's current two-year limit.

"I think the key word is 'reasonable,'" Caruso said.

Some child protection lobbyists believe the Catholic Church is fighting to limit its financial liabilities at the detriment of child molestation victims.

"It's a sad day when pedophiles and their enablers have paid lobbyists and victims have to beg for justice," said Grier Weeks, executive director of the National Association to Protect Children. "The last thing we want is to make this anything about the church. ... They inserted themselves into this."
The Catholic Church has faced global scrutiny in recent years in the face of revelations of some priests being transferred to different parishes after molesting children, where some have sexually abused a new set of children.

Now the Catholic Church is trying to restore its image, with Pope John Paul II having issued new guidelines for dealing with accusations of sexual abuse.

In recent years, Catholic Church lobbyists have worked to block attempts in other states to lengthen the period in which victims can file lawsuits against predators and the church.

In 2009, Maryland legislators voted down a bill that would have given child sex abuse victims until age 50 to file a lawsuit against the perpetrator and complicit organizations after the Maryland Catholic Conference put up a vigorous defense, claiming the legislation would have discouraged prompt reporting of child abuse.

In Virginia, victims of child molestation currently have two years to file a lawsuit after either turning 18 or discovering personal damage, whichever comes later. Experts say some child molestation victims experience memory repression and memories of the crimes don't resurface until many years later. Corporations and nonprofits, including churches, can also be held liable if deemed to have been complicit in the abuse.

"When you have third-party defendants that are involved, I think that's where you get into the issue of recognizing that there has to be a reasonable length of time," Caruso said, arguing that the church might have a difficult time defending itself against claims of abuse that occurred long ago. "Again, memories fade and witnesses have died or they can't be located, and at that point, it's very difficult to present evidence in a defense."

But Weeks argues that the church leaders' argument "doesn't wash."

"I've met hundreds of survivors of child sexual abuse and talked with them at length - every imaginable tragedy you can think of. And most of them, even the strongest, are still struggling to come to terms with this decades later," Weeks said, adding that lost or aged evidence works in favor of the defense. "Nobody can or should win a lawsuit without evidence."

Weeks argues that extending the statute of limitations to eight years is far better than two, but doesn't go far enough. Weeks said that he believes the civil statute of limitations should be lifted altogether in Virginia.
"Shouldn't we let victims pursue justice when they want to? Isn't that in our interest? More predators will be exposed. More collaborators will be exposed. It makes the entire society safe," Weeks said.
"Eight years is not enough," Weeks said. "This is not decency to force these people into court and say 'now or never,' because the reality is that many of them are going to come to terms with this much later [in life]."

Mark McAllister, 40, of Roanoke County, received a settlement of $600,000 from the Catholic Church after filing a lawsuit in Missouri alleging a priest sexually abused him regularly for five years, beginning at the age of 13.

But McAllister didn't file the suit until after coming to terms with the abuse at the age of 37, he said in an interview. McAllister said that he had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and had repressed memory of the incident.

The Rev. Carmine Sita of St. Aloysius Church in Jersey City, N.J., had previously been sentenced to five years of probation connected to an alleged case of child sex abuse. After being sent to a treatment center, he had his name changed to Gerald Howard and was transferred to a small parish in Missouri - where McAllister says the priest sexually abused him.

Howard is awaiting trial for numerous felonies, including multiple counts of forcible sodomy.

McAllister, who plans to testify in front of the Virginia Senate, said that at the age of 37 he began having nightmares and uncontrollable thoughts that "all sort of centered around this individual and what happened between us, and initially I wasn't even sure it was real."

McAllister, the Western Virginia director of The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, argues that it's unreasonable to expect all child sexual abuse victims to come forward at a young age.
"It's a huge amount of shame and guilt that goes along with it. The perpetrators are very good making the victim feel responsible that they in some manner contributed to it, that they were an equal or willing participant," McAllister said. "Denial is so much of an easier route to take for a lot of the victims. ... Until they realize how deeply it affects their lives, it's just simply an easier route to take. Some victims, on the other hand, simply eliminate it from memory."

Caruso said Catholic Church leaders in Virginia don't plan to point to a specific year as an appropriate civil statute of limitations. However, he noted that about 30 states have a civil statute of limitations of two to five years for child sex abuse cases.

"There's only six states that have a statute of limitations of 25 years or greater, and of the remainder, the majority of those fall in the seven to 10 years range," Caruso said. "Rather than pointing to a specific number, I think that this survey of what other states do in this area really kind of presents a reasonable context."

Caruso said that the Richmond and Arlington dioceses have implemented mandatory background checks for employees and volunteers. There's also been "safe environment" training, and there's a requirement to report abuse to law enforcement.

Del. David Albo, R-Fairfax County, filed the House bill to extend the civil statute of limitations to 25 years. However, he said that Caruso presented a compelling case for a smaller window.

"They're probably right," Albo said. "If it was 25 years it creates a problem, because what if you discovered it when you were 40? And then you have 25 more years? You'd be trialing a case 55 years after the event happened. And witnesses pass away. People forget [things]."

"I kind of wished it was more than eight, but you know, politics is the art of the possible," Albo said. "We took the higher end of what most states do."

Albo noted that there is no criminal statute of limitations for felony child sex abuse cases in Virginia, contending that perpetrators could still be locked up for crimes that aren't reported until much later.

Attempts to interview Bishop Francis Xavier DiLorenzo of the Richmond Diocese were unsuccessful. Caruso said he speaks on behalf of Arlington Diocese Bishop Paul S. Loverde and DiLorenzo. Aides said Wednesday that DiLorenzo's schedule was booked and a follow-up email to DiLorenzo requesting an interview had not been responded to as of press time.

It was also unclear, as of press time, when the Senate plans to discuss the companion statute of limitations bill

Maciel a Sociopath and a Criminal, not just a Sinner

2010-12-30T06:56:00.000-08:00

Not saying he wasn't a sinner but the big problem is he was not only a Pedophile and a Reprobate, but a Sociopath, a person who loved to deceive others and used people with gusto for his own ends, breaking the law without scruple or remorse. That is the problem for the Legion of Christ and for the Vatican: the Founder of this religious order was a sociopath, an Emotionally and Mentally Ill person [technically, Anti-social personality disorder, according to the DSM-IV]; and from a legal point of view a Criminal

Now if God can use such a person to found a religious order then my hat is off to Him -I do believe that for God nothing is impossible. It just stretches my faith...

Legion declares Maciel a Good Founder but a Bad Priest

2010-12-11T23:26:00.000-08:00

The Superior General, Alvaro Corcuera, has reached this decision after long reflection and meditation:

Picture of Fr. Maciel distributing Holy Communion to Legionaries, flanked by Apostolics

[from life.after.rc blog with a few minor edits by blogger, a translator]

Institutional position on founder

The Legion has released a formal in-house decree re the Founder, Fr. Maciel. One wonders what this means as the Legion had already said this on March 25 of this year. Maybe Alvaro wants to show solidarity with the pope. It could also be a way to move Legion die-hards away from stubborn allegiance to Fr. Maciel.

===============

For the Legionaries of Christ

And consecrated members of Regnum Christ

Dear Friends in Christ:

Our General Director, after having meditated before God, having received many suggestions, and after having discussions with the regional directors and members of the general council during meetings held on 3 and 4 December, has found it necessary to take an institutional position in relation to Fr.. Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement. This decree therefore emanates with the approval of the Papal Delegate, Card. Velasio De Paolis, and is to be applied in all places and works of the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi.

It was not easy to get to these provisions, as the person of Fr Maciel "is a mysterious figure," as Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges in his recent book-length interview. As we said in our statement of March 25th, "God in his mysterious plans chose Fr Maciel as an instrument to found the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement, and we thank God for the good he did. While painful to accept, given the gravity of his faults, we can not see him as a model of Christian and priestly life." Our General Director is of the firm hope that this institutional position will help us focus more and more in the person of Christ, and to follow him closely united in love, actively fighting for his kingdom in the world.

We put this in the hands of Our Blessed Lady of Guadalupe, on the eve of her fest day.

Please remember us in your prayers
Yours affectionately in Christ,

========
[Here is the original -- improved translations over Googelle are welcome:

Nuestro director general, después de haberlo meditado ante Dios, de haber recibido múltiples sugerencias, de haberlas discutido con los directores territoriales y con los miembros del consejo general en las reuniones tenidas el 3 y 4 de diciembre, ha considerado necesario tomar una postura institucional en relación con el P. Maciel, fundador de la Legión de Cristo y del Movimiento Regnum Christi. Y por lo mismo emana este decreto con la aprobación del Delegado Pontificio, Card. Velasio De Paolis, para que sea aplicado en todos los centros y obras de la Legión de Cristo y del Regnum Christi.

No ha sido fácil llegar a estas disposiciones, pues la persona del P. Maciel «es una figura misteriosa», como reconoce el Papa Benedicto XVI en su reciente libro-entrevista. Según dijimos en nuestro comunicado del 25 de marzo, «Dios en sus misteriosos designios eligió al P. Maciel como instrumento para fundar la Legión de Cristo y el Movimiento Regnum Christi, y agradecemos a Dios el bien que realizó. A la vez aceptamos con dolor que, ante la gravedad de sus faltas, no podemos mirar su persona como modelo de vida cristiana o sacerdotal». Nuestro director general tiene la firme esperanza de que esta postura institucional nos ayudará a centrarnos más y más en la persona de Cristo, y a seguir muy unidos en la caridad, luchando activamente por su Reino en el mundo.]

"I ACCUSE FR MACIEL AND THE LEGION OF CHRIST"

2010-11-27T23:25:00.000-08:00

the title of a memoir written IN SPANISH by Francisco Gonzalez Parga, another early member of Fr. Maciel's Harem....He had a relationship with Holy Founder from the age of 14 to about 26...
He was in the Legion from 1951 til 1971

If you speak Spanish be on the outlook for it to appear on Amazon.

Hope to post some excerpts.

Pope Fallible on Maciel

2010-11-23T14:53:00.001-08:00

[From Pope's new book]

"Benedict also discusses the case of Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the

late founder of the Legionaries of Christ. Maciel was a longtime Vatican
favorite because of his doctrinal conservatism and penchant for generating
vocations, but who has how become a symbol of the crisis as the Legionaries have
acknowledged he was guilty of various forms of sexual misconduct.

Benedict refers to Maciel a “mysterious figure,” saying that he led an
“adventurous, wasted, twisted life.” At another point, the pope refers to
Maciel as a “false prophet.”

At the same time, Benedict says that the order Maciel founded is “by and
largely sound.”"

Blogger say:

Pope not infallible re LC/RC; pope logic failing him: how can a false
prophet found a work of God? -or maybe I need to refresh my biblical studies...

Maciel's Multiple Sins Could Not Overshadow his God Given Grace (Charism)

2010-10-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

This would appear to be one of the conclusions to draw from Cardinal designate Velasio de Paolis' 2nd Letter to the Legionaries of Christ (October 20th, 2010)

See sister link with Essay

Our Commander who art in Panties

2010-10-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

just off the news

A top ranked military guilty of murders, sexual assault and fetishes

The importance of mental health can never be stressed enough

People are still trying to figure out Fr Marcial Maciel's psychiatric diagnosis [Narcissists never go to therapists, much less anti social personality disorder people]

Fr. Flanagan of Boys Town had warned about Danger of Irish Clergy Abuse

2010-10-07T09:35:00.000-07:00

Boys Town founder Fr. Flanagan warned Irish Church about abuse in 1940s

By

JOHN FAY,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, October 5, 2010, 2:15 PM

Updated Tuesday, October 5, 2010, 2:31 PM

As the Vatican prepares to send bishops to Ireland it is worth recalling what the last American priest who investigated a church scandal in Ireland found.

Father Edward Flanagan, founder of “Boys Town” made famous by the Spencer Tracy movie, was a lone voice in condemning Ireland’s industrial schools back in the 1940s –and he was viciously castigated by church and government for doing so.

Fr. Flanagan, from Co. Roscommon, left Ireland in 1904 and was ordained a priest eight years later. In 1917 he was living and working in Omaha, Nebraska, when he hit upon the idea of a "boys town," which offered education and a home for the poor and wayward boys of Omaha.

However, demand for the service was so great that he soon had to find bigger premises. Boys Town, built on a farm 10 miles from Omaha, was the result.

The center was open to all. There were no fences to stop the boys from leaving. Fr. Flanagan said he was “not building a prison." "This is a home," he said. "You do not wall in members of your own family.”

Boys Town eventually became so well-known - and so well-respected - that Hollywood and the U.S. President came calling. Spencer Tracey and Mickey Rooney starred in the 1938 movie "Boys Town," and it made a national hero out of Fr. Flanagan. He was internationally renowned as “the world’s most foremost expert on boys’ training and youth care.”

When World War II ended in 1945, President Harry S. Truman asked Fr. Flanagan to tour Asia and Europe, to see what could be done for the homeless and neglected children in those regions.
Fr. Flanagan decided to return to the land of his birth in 1946 to visit his family, and also to visit the “so-called training schools" run by the Christian Brothers to see if they were "a success or failure.”
The success of the film "Boys Town," meant Fr. Flanagan was treated like a celebrity on his arrival. His visit was noted by the The Irish Independent, which said that Fr. Flanagan had succeeded “against overwhelming odds,” spurred on by the “simple slogan that 'There is no such thing as a bad boy.'”

But Fr. Flanagan was unhappy with what he found in Ireland. He was dismayed at the state of Ireland's reform schools and blasted them as “a scandal, un-Christlike, and wrong.” And he said the Christian Brothers, founded by Edmund Rice, had lost its way.

Speaking to a large audience at a public lecture in Cork’s Savoy Cinema he said, "You are the people who permit your children and the children of your communities to go into these institutions of punishment. You can do something about it." He called Ireland’s penal institutions "a disgrace to the nation," and later said "I do not believe that a child can be reformed by lock and key and bars, or that fear can ever develop a child’s character."

However, his words fell on stony ground. He wasn't simply ignored. He was taken to pieces by the Irish establishment. The then-Minister for Justice Gerald Boland said in the Dáil that he was “not disposed to take any notice of what Monsignor Flanagan said while he was in this country, because his statements were so exaggerated that I did not think people would attach any importance to them.”
Fr. Flanagan was a devout Catholic, a man who Catholics and non-Catholics world-wide had deemed a hero. He was the Mother Theresa of his day.

Despite that, the Irish Church and the Irish authorities felt comfortable ignoring Fr. Flanagan, ignoring the fact that he was considered to be an expert in the matter of providing for the education and upbringing of boys who were otherwise considered to be “lost causes.”

When he arrived back in America Fr. Flanagan said: "What you need over there is to have someone shake you loose from your smugness and satisfaction and set an example by punishing those who are guilty of cruelty, ignorance and neglect of their duties in high places . . . I wonder what God's judgment will be with reference to those who hold the deposit of faith and who fail in their God-given stewardship of little children."

Again, his efforts fell on stony ground.

What was it about the Irish Church and the Irish authorities that made them so insular that they felt comfortable dismissing someone of Fr. Flanagan's stature? Despite the fact that Fr. Flanagan was a popular hero to many Irish people, his words had no sway with those in authority, whether in the government or the Church.

And, once those who endorsed the industrial school model survived Fr. Flanagan's broadsides, they must have known that no one would challenge them again. They were right, for 50 years anyway.

Not since the penal times has the Catholic Church been so threatened in Ireland. Only this time the damage is all self-inflicted and not imposed by an outside force. Unless strong Catholic characters arise from the wreckage we have now, the Church in Ireland is doomed.

Find this article at:

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Boys-Town-founder-Fr-Flanagan-warned-Irish-Church-about-abuse-in-1940s-104356519.html?showAll=y

Vatican Probes Disgraced Order's Cultish Lay Group

2010-09-25T16:20:00.000-07:00

MSNBC created that headline!

Only about 900 are consecrated — nearly all women, but also a handful of men. They give up possessions and ties to their former lives much in the way nuns or priests do. They adhere to Vatican-approved statutes that require them to "voluntarily renounce the use of their capacity for decision-making" — pledging unswerving obedience to their superiors.

"I feel like I was brainwashed," said J., an American who joined the movement shortly after graduation from a Catholic university in the late 1990s and asked that only her middle initial be used. Like most of the women who spoke to the AP, she did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation from the Legion.

"I really thought it was a mortal sin to break any one of the little rules that were laid out by the statutes or the directress," she said.

"Members are not allowed to question or think outside group-think," she said. "I know that members totally dismiss any discussion of the Legion and Regnum Christi as a cult — I did when I was still part of it — but it sure looks like one once you get out."

Restoring the Catholic Historical Imagination

2010-09-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

Had to post this finely written piece by a good friend of mine, Rollin A. Lasseter, R.I.P., Catholic historian, educator, writer and poet.

http://www.catholicliberaleducation.org/newsletters/2010_september/news_newsletter_article_3.htm

Excerpted from a paper by Rollin A. Lasseter

“Restoring the Catholic Historical Imagination” -- my title for this paper -- is itself problematic. Why should anyone want to restore an imagination of history, that record of what J.R.R. Tolkien called “the long defeat”? At first glance, ancient history seems a recycled tale of building up and tearing down -- conquest, persecution, intrigue, and betrayal. Then, modern history -- often marked as beginning with the guillotine -- is defined by the death camps at Auschwitz, the darkness of Hiroshima, and the mass murder that is abortion and genocide. What is there in history, if anything, that we would want to pass along to our poor children? How do we, leading our children, get out of this cycle of death and domination? Is there a way out? Can we imagine any history with a happy ending? Or do we follow the pagan imagination, expecting loss, defeat, and death, and declare: “Call no man happy until he is dead.”

The problem for parents and teachers today is the current malformation of our own and our children’s imaginations. The imagination of our time is on a wide scale formed, or malformed, by some one else’s nightmare: movies, pornography, popular fiction, music, and ideology-driven TV. We see what we have been trained to see. We image what we have been taught to image. The modern imagination is an imagining of despair and increasingly, as a people, we cannot imagine a happy ending.

We have to be able to imagine Heaven, if we are to believe what Our Lord promised: “that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.” From the Old Testament we hear the promise of the Deuteronomist’s words, “And underneath are the everlasting arms.” From the Gospels come assurances spoken by Our Lord himself, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”; and “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

The Catholic imagination has a great tradition of images to defeat the nightmares of despair. And the telling of history from a Catholic point of view is to see that human beings are, first and foremost, religious creatures who are given, what we call in our Catholic Schools Textbook Project textbooks, opportunities in time for choosing “grace-filled” change, providential evolution, if you will. One perception builds on another. One discovery makes way for another. Each inspiration leads to a purer understanding of mankind’s destiny: begun, continued and ended in God. Catholics are preeminently the people for whom history matters.
The Catholic imagination is not a closed, political view of a social utopia with a “preferential option for the poor,” -- though a free and just society is what we imagine as a Christian society. Nor is it defined by bitter polemics of Catholic isolation in America -- although a bit of Catholic triumphalism is not unbecoming. Nor is it that meager view represented by collections of overly pious saints-lives and sweet devotions -- though they may have grown out of the Catholic imagination.

The Catholic imagination is the good, the true and the beautiful -- vast and deep -- a world view that rests on two certainties: Man, as the Crown of Creation, and God, as the ever-present source of our life and hope -- the natural and the supernatural. A Catholic imagination sees all events of human life as participating in the Divine plan for Creation, the providential story being told by God.
They fail us not, the ever-suffering arms,

Nor careless, drop us from the trembling stage

Despite our petty sorceries and charm.

We rest enfold in comfort not in cage,

Still underneath, the Everlasting Arms.

(From the Hymn: The Everlasting Arms)

Therefore, I want to invite you to think about history and the teaching of history not as a clinical record of the facts of the past or as meaningless events in the sequence of ages, but as a lifting of a curtain on a great drama, an invitation to step--with imagination, thought and will--into the revelation of God in human history, to lift the curtain on the greatest drama in the cosmos: Salvation history. For it was not in myth or in “Once-upon- a-time in a galaxy far, far away,” it was not in some “Land before Time,” but instead at a moment in our own, our real human history, that God took flesh in the womb of His blessed mother, Mary. Lived. Spoke. Suffered, died, and rose from death for the salvation of all mankind. In this drama of salvation history, we see the hand of God in all ages -- His hand in the advances of human technology and science and in the everyday joys, sorrows, and miseries as well. In every moment of salvation history, God is present and does not abandon his special creation, made in His own image, “male and female created He them.”
To restore the Catholic historical imagination --so that students, and ourselves, can look at history as something other than nightmare and Death -- we need only to call attention to God’s intervention in the human story – God’s hand in events, in society, and in our own lives – to remind ourselves and our students of the interaction of providence with the story of human achievement, courage, and creativity. Human stories become true history when told as God-stories.

How is imagination formed? Through meeting with great souls and great visions. Not by philosophy or doctrine, for the young mind is not moved by doctrine, but by images, the images of divine reality. Images of virtue, images of faith, images of love, images of Hope. An imagination that cannot see hope is an imagination of death. It is not the imagination we want for our children. The imagination of hopelessness can be, must be, transformed.

Through the story and the romance of the past we can create an imaginative grasp of the world we have been given, so that our young people will know that “underneath, are the Everlasting Arms.” “And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

Our Father on Jack Keogh's Blog

2010-09-21T03:01:00.000-07:00

this is me at San Simeon, not Jack

Thanks to Jack Keogh, who published only the second English language memoir of life in the Legion, Our Father got a bit of plugging when he blogged about "Another book about Fr. Marcial Maciel.".

Read my super interesting comments!

Irish Reporter interviews Lennon, Vaca, and Kineke

2010-08-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

The blogger, author of Our Father Maciel who art in bed, with his parents in Rome, September 1969

"Legion of Crisis",
an article by Niall Stanage, US correspondent for The Sunday Business Post quotes former LC/RC members Lennon, Vaca, and Gineke, mentioning the memoir "Our Father, who art in bed

Why Ratzinger/Benedict went after Maciel/Legion?

2010-08-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

Maciel giving Holy Communion to Paul Lennon in the '80s

Hello, dear reader.
an interesting article came accross my desk today which continues to shed light on Ratzinger/Benedict's action re Marcial Maciel and the Legion of Christ; it is an interview with Monsignor Scicluna, the Vatican "Attorney General" who personally carried out the 2005 investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by Fr. Maciel, founder and superior general of the Legion of Christ order.
In the interverview Scicluna suggests that during his time at the Defense of the Faith Congreation/Department then Cardinal Ratzinger had to review the cases of clerical pedophilia and became increasining distressed. Ratzinger/Benedict followed through when he became pope and "nailed" several powerful clerics who had gotten off scot free "during the previous adminstration"
=====
While Pope Benedict XVI has been accused of mishandling abuse cases, as an Archbishop in Germany, and also as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, Scicluna rejected those charges.

The Maltese Vatican official, said those who worked with the future Pope in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith were full of admiration for him and his “courage and determination” in dealing with the crisis.
“I am a direct witness to the compassion, the frustration and the anger that these cases instilled in Cardinal Ratzinger, the man, Joseph Ratzinger,” Scicluna said.

While Scicluna seems determined to avoid using the term “crisis,” he insists on calling sin by its name, and crime as well.
“People call this a crisis,” he said. “It is certainly a challenge to the Church, but it is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to call sin sin in its face, and do something about it. It is an opportunity for the church to show itself determined in its fight against sin, against crime.”

While the sexual abuse of minors clearly does not take place only in church circles, Fox asked Scicluna if he thought the Catholic Church should be held to a higher standard.

“I think so,” Scicluna responded. “Because we do stand for a very clear message which should be a light to the world. So we do complain about the headlines sometimes, but the headlines are a reflection that the world takes what we say very seriously, and is scandalized when what we do does not correspond to what we say.”

Scicluna, whose official title is the Promoter of Justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said a priest who abuses makes a “mockery” of his vocation.

“There is a sacred trust which has been violated,” he said. “The priest has been ordained to be an icon, a living image of Jesus Christ. He is another Christ at the altar, when he preaches. Now when he abuses, he shatters that icon.”

He said the Church has to face up to the truth, even if it’s not very nice: “There’s no other way out of this situation, except facing the truth of the matter.”

Vatican should remove Statute of Limitations for Child Abuse Cases say English-Welsh Bishops

2010-07-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

As reported today on NCR Online English-Welsh Catholic Bishops recommend that Vatican remove statute of limitations for crimes against children

Lennon's Amazon Review of Former Legionary Jack Keogh's "Driving straight on Crooked Lines"

2010-07-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

Maciel interfacing with Paul Lennon, Salamanca, Spain 1962, the year Jack Keogh joined

Buddy Holly in the Legion of Christ,

June 9, 2010

I say Buddy Holly because my first impression of Jack was Buddy Holly in a cassock: gangly, with horned-rimmed glasses, who could sing and play the guitar.

This memoir is a must read for the Catholic public, former Legionaries and members of Regnum Christi, their friends and relatives -not to mention priests, bishops, Apostolic Visitators and Commissioners. Let me humbly state that I am one of the people best qualified to write this review. I, too, am a Dubliner, and joined the Legion a year before Jack Keogh. His claim to fame is being the first Irish Legionary to set foot on Mexican soil; mine of being one of the first eight Irishmen to begin Novitiate and take vows in Salamanca, Spain, in what would become the fastest growing and most prestigious order (more precisely "congregations") in the Catholic Church.

Not that Jack and I became bosom buddies. As he explains, Legionaries don't discuss any personal thoughts or feelings among themselves even if they are living side by side. Friendships are not allowed. The memoir shows how every Legionary is an island -of silence, solitude, and secrets- and, for the most part, an island unaware of its own needs. Jack mentions moments of getting in touch with his own Eros -he was more alive than others. Occasionally, Jack pulls back the sunny curtain to reveal sadness, leading us into the mystery of Legionary life. The less enthusiastic and optimistic will find that "Most Legionaries live lives of quiet desperation." Legionaries and Regnum Christi members hide their real selves behind a solid rock happy face façade. "Mom, I'm fine. Everything is wonderful here!" The tragedy is they bury themselves alive.

Former Legionaries can be divided into three groups: those who had a good time/experience with Fr Maciel; those who had a bad time and/or were abused by him in some way; and those with little direct contact with him. Jack belongs to the first group. Marcial Maciel had the uncanny knack of zeroing in on a person's gifts/needs/weaknesses, exploiting them for his own (the Kingdom of Christ's) ends. Jack wanted to figure and do something worthwhile. Maciel sent him to found the Irish Institute in Mexico City among the rich and famous.

Bro. John, our Jack, was always upbeat. I can still recall this gregarious six-footer trying to boost the morale of the troops "in the community", his large frame skipping along the Travertine corridors at Via Aurelia, Rome, as he joined us after one of his expeditions into the outside world, regaling us with a joke, a funny story, or an edifying tidbit about Nuestro Padre. Jack, like the rest of us, tried very hard to be a good Legionary. Everything he says is true. Ours is the same tune, played on different instruments; or wearing different colored glasses, pink, blue, red or black...He the motivational speaker; I the skeptic.

As the "Feeling Introvert" (see Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) I thought a lot about leaving the priesthood, daunted by the practical perspective of life outside the monastery walls. Jack, the "Thinking Extravert" went into action quickly, chose a wife, got married, had a daughter, and entered the business world. We must not minimize the contribution of the woman who joined her life to his at that moment: Collette, an atractive, kind, intelligent, and supportive wife, helping to put "Humpty Dumpty" together again.

Jack is at his best when he drops the breezy debonair, baring his heart; as in the illness of his native African friend, Dominique; or good bye to his teenage sweetheart, or his friendship with confreres such as Juan Manuel Amenabar, the ebullient Spanish padre who was director of the Irish Institute without speaking a word of English.

Jack renders a great service by describing what other former members overlook as the obvious but which outsiders ignore and are curious about - the details of daily life -giving a peek into what it is like in a Legion house of formation or apostolate, the various activities, the routines, the rules, the customs of the religious life: our duties as time-keeper, porter, laundry-worker, sacristan, mechanic, driver... He also gives a face to many unknown unselfish Legionaries whose names and stories would have remained in oblivion. Thank you, Jack, for going to the trouble of telling your tale, for taking the risk of sharing your intimacy, for helping to fill in the blanks in the Legion chronicles, and for giving us your personal perspective, for trying to be "objective" and dispassionate about a very passionate subject.

One of the final triggers for Jack's departure from the Legion was when Fr. Maciel cruelly mistreated Jack's fellow exile in Gabon, Luis Lerma. Jack's compassion kicked in and liberated him finally from the yoke around his neck. One of the final triggers of my leaving the Legion was furtively learning -through a mutual lay friend, Angelina - how Maciel mistreated Luis and Jack. Years previously I had picked up on something that destroyed my admiration for Nuestro Padre, and in my mind disqualified the Legion Founder from being a holy man or a saint: Maciel's inhumanity to man (and scorn for women).

J. Paul Lennon, author of Our Father (Maciel) who art in bed, a Naïve and Sentimental Dubliner in the Legion of Christ.

Fellow Former Legionary, Jack Keogh's, Memoir

2010-06-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

This blogger has just posted his Personal Review of Jack's book, different from the "official" one below. I enjoyed the memoir very much. I had hoped by writing mine to lead the way. I would like to see memoirs appear from more recent generations, from people who joined in the 70s, then the 80s, then the 90s...in different parts of the world, with different experiences, points of view.

[From Amazon.com]

Editorial Reviews on the webpage.

Review

"I was pulled along by the story of a young Irishman drawn into the world of the Legionaries of Christ... This is a sad yet in the final measure uplifting memoir." --Jason Berry, investigative journalist, and co-author of "Vows of Silence" (added by author)

Product Description

Driving Straight On Crooked Lines is Jack Keogh's inspiring autobiography, covering the twenty years of his life from adolescence in Dublin, Ireland, to adulthood as a Catholic Priest in the Legion of Christ, and onwards: transitioning to a new life as husband, father, and international management consultant. For twenty years, Jack's life was intertwined with the Legion, and its controversial founder Marcial Maciel. Both the Legion, and Maciel feature in this memoir, but it is not about them. Rather, this is Jack's story. As such, it is told with candor, a sparkle in the eye, plenty of blarney, and Irish good humor. Spanning locations across the globe, this memoir gives insight to the inner workings of what some see as a religious cult, and to the inner thoughts of a former priest. It tells how an Irishman found his heart, and in doing so, nearly lost his mind. It is often moving, frequently funny, very entertaining, and always memorable.

Do I want Maciel to Sizzle in Hell?

2010-06-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

[the blogger at the age of 12, the age of Maciel's victims when the abuse started]

A friend wrote:

I am grateful for the gospel injunction that I not judge lest I BE judged. Maciel's deathbed refusal of the Sacraments of Annointing & Reconciliation shocks me. May God have mercy on him.

Blogger's response:

I do not totally accept reports regarding Fr Maciel's last moments, whether receiving or not the Sacraments. It is very hard to know the facts. Nobody will come out publicly and put his head on the block behind his allegations/reports. We have only unconfirmed "rumors" from inside and out, from friends and enemies. And I, despite it all, am not an "enemy of Maciel", and derive no particular pleasure from thinking of him sizzling in Hell for all eternity.

On the other hand he does deserve some punishment for all his evil deeds -especially the sex abuse of minors which is so traumatic and damaging - and for getting off almost Scott Free in this world.

Buddhist Sect Suppress Buddhist Critic...

2010-05-17T17:04:00.000-07:00

Echoes of Legion of Christ VS John Paul Lennon and ReGAIN, INC, in Alexandria City District Court, August, 2007

Gary Beesley Buddhist scholar forced to withdraw 'A Cuckoo in the Peacock Palace'

dialogueireland
May 17, 2010 at 11:52 pm
Categories: Abuse, Books, Buddhist Origin, Cultism, New Kadampa Tradition - NKT, Religion, Uncategorized
URL: http://wp.me/pq5hv-SM

Dear Colleagues:

It is with sincere regret that I write to inform you that, due to the threat of legal action from the New Kadampa Tradition, and in light of the inadequacies of UK libel law, I have been forced to withdraw my forthcoming book, 'A Cuckoo in the Peacock Palace: The Decline of Tradition in 21st Century Western Buddhism and the Rise of the New Kadampa Tradition' from publication.

I appreciate that many of you will be very disappointed by this decision, a disappointment that I share with you from the very depths of my heart. However, as a Buddhist layman with a wife and children, I must place the short and long term well being of my family at the very fore of my considerations. Having raised myself up from poverty through dedication, hard work and the blessings of the Buddhas, I could not bear to impose an undeserved life of poverty on my wife and children when I leave this world. Therefore, for the sake of my family, as well as the good name of the Dharma, I have made this difficult, indeed heart wrenching decision. The NKTs legal representative kindly reminded me that, as Buddhists it is very important that we try to resolve our problems in a peaceful manner. I hope the withdrawal of the book is an indication of my intention to observe such advice in my dealings with others from now on.

With respect and sincere regret for any hurt or disappointment I may have caused.

Yours in the Dharma

The layman Gary Beesley
===========================
[Dialogue Ireland goes on to say:]

We were very sorry to hear the news of the withdrawal of the book. This raises great issues of free speech and reminds the Director of an experience he had in 1996. Jon Caven Atack, author of "A piece of blue sky," had his book destroyed by Scientology. He had to withdraw from all forms of commentary and it also resulted in his family breaking up. So it is great understanding that we read what Gary has written. We appeal to all world wide to rise to his support and to consider ways to address this crisis of free speech. To misquote JK Kennedy, Ask not what your freedom can do for you, but what it can do for Gary. Here in Ireland where we have a written constitution we decided to sell the book here in Ireland. We went into the court and told Scientology to lodge £50,000 to defend their position after they threatened me with ruin. Our barrister was Adrian Hardiman currently one of our Supreme Court Justices. We call on all right thinking people to stand up and be counted on this issue.

Irish Times Rumor Off Base!

2010-05-04T18:39:00.000-07:00

I was better off throwing coins in the Trevi Fountain!

New information has led me to believe that the rumor from the Irish Times regarding the well respected Secretary for Christian Unity, Monsignor Brian Farrell - kind of LC- being appointed as Commissioner to the Legion of Christ is unfounded. Brian is too nice a guy for such a crappy job
Sorry, Brian,
and God Bless
Up Dublin!

Dubliner Mons Brian Farrell rumored by Irish Times as Vatican Envoy to Legion

2010-05-03T11:29:00.000-07:00

According to the Irish Times, Bishop Brian Farrell, a Legionary of Christ, presently Secretary for the Sacred Congregation for Christian Unity, may be the one chosen by Vatican to overhaul the Legion of Christ.

Another rumor has it the bishop of Guadalajara may be the one...

A Hail of Bullets greets Fr. Owen Kearns' Apology

2010-04-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

A couple of days ago, the Legion of Christ's National Catholic Register director came out and apologized for not knowing Fr. Maciel was a con-artist and for having defended him and offended truth seekers in the process. Comments have been lively and divided.

Most people have demanded further transparency and accountability; a few have thanked Fr. for his Christian virtue and honesty, continuing to defend Fr Owen, the Legion, the Regnum Christi, and what is left of Fr. Maciel

Spain's LC Director "Sets the Record Straight" re Maciel's Death

2010-04-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

Fr. Jesus Maria Delgado, Territorial Director, Spain

For some time a version of the events surrounding Fr. Maciel's death, attributed to Vicar General, Luis Garza in a secret conference to the members, has circulated. Now, in response to this version in El Mundo the Spanish blog, Legion Regional Director for Spain, Jesus Ma Delgado has written to the editor.

http://www.cope.es/religion/12-04-10--legionarios-cristo-responden-mundo-158088-1

Fr. Jesus Maria gives a detailed rebuttal to an article which appeared in El Mundo. It seems to offer an explanation to the mysterious fire that Luis Garza mentions in his secretly recorded meeting....to members of the Regnum Christi Consecrated members.

JM says that Maciel died in Jacksonville and that there were only two consecrated women, some LCs and two local nurses present. He also says that Maciel received the sacraments on various occasions. Does this tally with what Luis Garza said about Maciel's death - that he didn't receive confession and Alvaro gave him the sacrament when he was in a coma, that they asked Maciel's "wife" to encourage him to have confession?

Who knows what to believe anymore!

On 4/19/10 the blogger found and English language report on Spero News [CNA] which explains Fr. Delgado's peeves; it appears there was some sloppy reporting mixing fact and fiction and the LC Spanish Territorial Director takes the writers to task. Perhaps rightly so.

RJ Neuhuas Deceived by Maciel and Legion

2010-03-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

the blogger hopes to publish very soon his correspondence with the Giant of Catholic Conservancy
And -added on June 3rd- here it is!

Was Maciel a Pedophile?

2010-03-08T18:55:00.000-08:00

It is incredible how complex the answer to this question became several years ago, at a time when many denied Fr. Maciel had abused his seminarians, and prominent "Catholic Thinkers" such as RJ Neuhause defended Maciel with complex arguments and explanations, including blurring distinctions between pedophilia and homosexuality, etc.

I came upon this brief definition today in the New World Encyclopedia online. Without shedding the complexity and ambiguity inherent in this abuse the central premises are helpful in understanding Maciel and other "pedophiles", even in the light of other liaisons with young women and adolescent boys and young men...

The word pedophilia comes from the Greek paidophilia (παιδοφιλια)—pais (παις, "child") and philia (φιλια, "love, friendship"). Paidophilia was coined by Greek poets as a substitute for "paiderastia" (pederasty) (Liddell and Scott 1959).

The term paedophilia erotica was coined in 1886 by the Austro-German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his writing Psychopathia Sexualis (1886). He described the following characteristics:

1] the sexual interest is toward children, either prepubescent or at the beginning of puberty

2] the sexual interest is the primary one, that is, exclusively or mainly toward children

3] the sexual interest remains over time

Strictly speaking, this definition would include many adolescents and prepubescents for whom such an interest might be normal. Thus, some experts add the criterion that the interest be toward children at least five years younger than the subject. However, according to other experts, a diagnosis of pedophilia can also be appropriate for a post-pubescent adolescent (Janssen 2003).

In the United States and several other countries, the term "pedophile" is also used to denote significantly older adults who are sexually attracted to adolescents, as well as those who have sexually abused a child (Ames and Houston 1990).

Pedophile Pediatrician Abuser of Girls Indicted in Deleware, USA

2010-02-23T09:10:00.000-08:00

Just to show you that pedophiles, sex abusers, or whatever we chose to call them, do not target boys exclusively -and that therefore are not necessarily "homosexual"- here is news item from today on Yahoo

--
Del. doctor indicted in serial child abuse scandal

By RANDALL CHASE, Associated Press Writer Randall Chase, Associated Press Writer

Tue Feb 23, 8:22 am ET

DOVER, Del. – Prosecutors expect to add more counts to a lengthy indictment against a Delaware pediatrician charged with serial molestation of 103 children as investigators urge former patients and parents to come forward.

A grand jury returned a 160-page indictment Monday against Dr. Earl Bradley of Lewes with 471 counts of sexual crimes.

The case has shocked the close-knit coastal community of Lewes and the central Delaware town of Milford, where Bradley closed an office in 2005 after police investigated him.

Bradley's attorney, Eugene Maurer, said he would seek to move the trial out of Sussex County. But he said the "real battleground" in the case will be Bradley's mental state, not what is seen on videotapes seized from Bradley's home and office or alleged in the indictment.

Announcing the grand jury's indictment, Attorney General Beau Biden said all of the alleged victims, mainly girls but including one boy, were caught on more than 13 hours of video recordings, some dating to 1998.

"The charges in this indictment are unique in the history of the state of Delaware, as far as I can tell," he said.

The charges against Bradley include rape, sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful sexual contact, continuous sexual abuse of a child, assault and reckless endangering.

Bradley, who was arrested in December and initially charged with 29 felony counts for allegedly abusing nine children, is being held with bail set at $2.9 million. His medical license was permanently revoked by the state Board of Medical Practice last week.
Maurer said he had not read the indictment but was not surprised by the allegations.

"I'm sure they have their reasons for including all these different victims in this indictment," said Maurer, noting that under state law, a single conviction of rape would be enough to put Bradley behind bars for life.

The indictment alleges Bradley was videotaping his sexual exploitation of patients as far back as December 1998. Many victims were assaulted repeatedly, some on consecutive days, according to the indictment, which alleges that one girl was raped more than a dozen times over a period that lasted more than a year.

Authorities would not say whether they think Bradley had videotaped all of his alleged assaults or whether there may be more victims.

"I expect that we will add to this indictment with new charges over the coming months," Biden said.

He encouraged parents and victims of Bradley, "regardless of age or gender," to contact prosecutors, who have sent out about 3,100 letters to Bradley's patients and set up an office in Lewes to handle complaints and direct potential victims and their families to counseling and other services.

Sussex County prosecutor Paula Ryan declined to say how many alleged victims seen on videotape have been identified by name, or to provide an age range. The indictment refers to each alleged victim only as "Jane Doe" or "John Doe."

After years of suspicions among parents and questions about his strange behavior from colleagues, Bradley was arrested after a 2-year-old girl told her mother that the doctor hurt her in December when he took her to a basement room of his office after an exam.

While prosecutors allege regular and repeated abuse by Bradley, the indictment contains a gap of more than a year, from October 2004 to June 2006, in which no alleged crimes are listed.

Biden and Gov. Jack Markell have ordered reviews to determine whether doctors, hospitals, state agencies or law enforcement authorities failed to comply with a state law that requires all such entities to report to the medical licensing board in writing within 30 days if they believe a doctor is or "may be" guilty of unprofessional conduct.

Biden said Monday that those investigations are aimed at determining "how this physician could lurk in our midst for as long as he did."

Former LC, Alex Martin, speaks of widespread corruption of Religious Life in Legion of Christ

2010-02-10T16:10:00.000-08:00

Fr. Maciel, Benefactress Flora Barragan, Pope VI, private audience in the 60s

Posted on GlobalPost a propos Investigation
by Spanish speaker in English
[without edits]
May be pseudonym

Posted by Alexmartin73 on July 20, 2009 17:48 ET
-----------------

I was a Legionary for many years. During my time as a legionary I saw Fr. Marcial (Nuestro Padre) live a very extravagant life. And there was a cult of him. He also knew how to wine and dine the elite. I was a waiter in the CES (Centro de estudios superiores) in Rome. One of the brothers who would prepare the Dinning room. We only had the very best for the visitors. (we would enjoy the leftovers afterwards in a Room beside the small kitchen). The display given to visitors would be similar to a very expensive restaurant. (I still remember the Mount Blanc deserts bought for the occasions). We could not even question things we saw, if I were to say "why does Nuestro Padre need special rooms in each house" to a brother, I could be 100% sure that brother would report my remark to superior and there would be consequences (I would be sent to work in east Europe or Columbia). The Legion had a way of keeping us in toe. It was a question of shut up or leave.(if you had the bottle) We really did believe we were doing God’s will by going on "recaudacion de fundos" in Mexico (begging for money from Rich). There was an Irish Priest Fr. William, who would get millions for the legion; The Guy got sense one day and left.
----
There are a lot of Good, very good priests. However the Legion knows how to spin a story to match their needs. I had a lot of good times in the Legion, they treated me very well, I was no abused by anyone, However even after leaving the Legion it was not until the Legion revealed the true story about the Founder that I became aware of the true nature of the Legion and its ability to brainwash people. because the Legion did pervert Religious life for its only ends and that of its founder. Many Legionaries did not live as Legionaries should, they would live apart, have their own money, own houses, cars, etc.. Any now I know why, because the founder was not a true Catholic, he did not believe, he was a parasite of the church, using faith for his own means.
---
Its sad when I think of the day in Mexico in 1998 when Fr. Alvaro spoke to us in Rosedal in Mexico about the allegations. He said they were false and were made to discredit "Nuestro Padre". These guys so intelligent as they are, were not able or willing to see the truth or even investigate. Fr. Macial has more power in the Legion than the Pope did, He knew how to use is power.
I hope and pray that the 5 Bishops will be able to see the true structure of the Legion (not the legion Painted by superiors), They will see pious communities, clean seminarians. What they don't and won't see are the one to one's the seminarians get with superiors, team balance, and the culture that is still there of hiding the truth. Even today they did don't criticize a superior, they keep the spirit of the Legion (I know this from a priest in the legion)
---
From what I can see in the Media only the Tip of the Iceberg has been revealed, There is a lot more to come. I feel sorry for the men of Faith in the Legion.

[5] Oh, Sweet Jesus, thank you for Protecting me from Maciel the Pervert!

2010-01-27T10:55:00.000-08:00

The author of Our Father who art in bed, Paul Lennon, with parents in Rome, 1966

When I look back on the following episode, described in my memoir, Our Father who art in bed, excerpted below,
I experience retro-active fear and revulsion:
I, too, was geographically close to him, the predator,
under the same roof, walking the same corridors...
Oh, my God! He sexually abused people on my watch - not that I knew of it at the time, pedophiles are so astute! But Vaca, Jurado and Parga were in the Legion at the same time as me, "prefects" in Salamanca and in Rome. Then, ten years ago, it came as a blow when I learned that one of my close companions in Bundoran and Rome, Michael Caheny, was also a victim.
Oh, Sweet Jesus, thank you for protecting me!
Oh, Holy Mother, how I cry for those that were abused!

My General Confession to Nuestro Padre

I am at Sanborn’s restaurant at the Plaza de las Estrellas

mall in Mexico City’s Anzures district on Saturday, September

10, 2005. Sitting across the table, Dr. Fernando González

interviews me about my experiences with the Legion of Christ

against the background of pedophilia. He is researching Maciel

& Legion abuses, and will later publish Marcial Maciel, the

Legion of Christ: Unpublished Testimonies and Documents. I tell him

honestly I was never sexually abused in the Legion, nor was I

ever approached in an inappropriate way by any member. Two

years after Sanborn’s I still must rack my brain to recall one

unusual incident.

It involved Father R.C., LC. I was already an

ordained priest. During one of my few visits to Rome, we were

strolling along the Via Aurelia Nova close to our Legionary

residence. A woman passed by. I paid only fleeting attention

to her. I can only infer that she was “a lady of the night” from

R.C.’s question: “Ever thought of going off with a prostitute?”

I said nothing but thought to myself: “What could have caused

you to pass a remark like that? Don’t you know I have sisters? I

love and respect women. Of course, I find them attractive. But

I don’t use them! I forgive you because you are a Legionary. One

never knows why Legionaries do things. Maybe you were on a

special mission to spy on me, to look for chinks in my armor.

What would you have said, thought, done if my answer had

been ‘Yes’? Was it just your own morbid curiosity? Yours was

certainly not the kind of question sanctioned by the myriad of

Legion rules, norms, guidelines and instructions.”

Entering the LC at age 17 and 7 months, I admit I was

very immature mentally, emotionally, and spiritually; naïve

and sexually unaware, too. However, as the son of a warm

and structured home, I had strong relationships with my

mother—her only son—and with my father; he and I were

“boon companions.” I did not need Nuestro Padre as a surrogate

father.

I had the “privilege” of going to confession to Nuestro

Padre for the first time before my Religious Profession in

Salamanca, September 1962. I was 18 years and 10 months

old. By then my Spanish was good enough. It was suggested

to me by my spiritual director/superior that I make a general

confession to Nuestro Padre to receive special graces through

the Founder and as the best way of preparing for the religious

life.

During the relatively uneventful and sheltered life I

had lived before entering the Holy Novitiate at age 17, I

had accumulated two “sins against purity” that troubled my

somewhat scrupulous conscience and about which I felt very

ashamed. Before entering the Legion I had unloaded one to

a Carmelite friar at St. Teresa’s Clarendon St., Dublin. In fear

and trembling I unloaded the second to Nuestro Padre, Man of

God. I do not recall any Earth-shattering advice or apocalyptic

revelation. I felt he was kind. At the end, I kissed the end of his

stole as a sign of reverence and gratitude. He may have brushed

my cheek with the tassel in a fatherly way. I experienced a great

sense of relief because I had been able to get rid of that sin. I

don’t remember any advice. Now, I had no sin on my soul, I

was free through the Sacrament of Confession, and I was ready

to take on my vows—although the doubts of faith continued

to torture me.

My interviewer Fernando insists: was there nothing, not

even the slightest sexual innuendo in this encounter with Fr

Maciel? No, nothing. “And you were not aware of any abuse

going on around you as appears from the testimonies of others?”

Not at all.

Taking into account the two dozen testimonies of sexual

abuse from the 40s and 50s, and those beginning to appear

regarding the 60s and 70s, why were so many of us so totally

unaware? Could it be that Father Maciel is a Master of the

Game of secret societies, with their isolated concentric circles

of information and power? Maciel in the middle, surrounded

by a first cadre of “unconditionals” who silently acquiesce to his

power? Only The Master knows everything. The unconditionals

know more than the following circle, and so on. The victims do

not necessarily belong to the inner circle, for it is now clear that

those closest to Maciel are used to bring more sheep into the

shepherd’s fold. They appear within a separate circle, isolated

from the community at large, which in turn is totally oblivious

to what goes on behind the infirmary door or Father Maciel’s

sickbay? Reading the chilling descriptions in John Le Carré’s

A Perfect Spy and Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago regarding

secrecy, isolation, and control lead one to such considerations.

I don’t think I can fairly say that Father Maciel was an

indiscriminate sexual predator, thought there is no doubt that

he had a large harem to choose from for years as undisputed

totalitarian leader of the Legion of Christ. Thus there is no

reason to believe that all who came within his “spiritual”

radius or halo were potential victims. That said, could it be

that the “sin” I confessed to Father Maciel in that first general

confession, about being sexually accosted by an Irish Christian

Brother, somehow “immunized” me against abuse? If so, oh

blessed “sin”! Or could it be that my conscience was already

gelling, thus making me impervious to molding according

to this Spiritual Director’s unusual criteria? Had I already

gathered sufficient “ego strength” to avoid enmeshment with

the guru? Or had he simply not found me attractive? Maybe I

wasn’t his type. Or my nose was too big.

[4] Fr. Maciel's "Personal Assistants" and Male Nurses

2010-01-19T14:54:00.000-08:00

El Puma’s Personal Assistants and Male Nurses

[Excerpt from "Our Father (Maciel) who art in bed"'s sole chapter on Fr. Maciel's Pedophile Activities]

During Novitiate in Salamanca, 1961-62, I was trained

as community nurse—which included giving shots of various

kinds—by Jesus Martinez-Penilla. Called “Padre Penilla,”

he was probably just another philosophy or theology student

appointed as “Prefect”, i.e., assistant superior. I never had any

problems with him, despite later reports linking him to sexual

abuse scandals in Ontaneda, Spain. He may have been Father

Maciel’s nurse, administering intravenous, intramuscular, and

subcutaneous shots to him. There was always a good stock of

injections, from vitamins to sedatives, in the supply cabinet.

Some medications were used exclusively by Father Maciel,

“Nuestro Padre’s medicines,” or could only be administered with

his authorization. I distinctly remember largactil phials which,

I believe, Father Penilla administered either to Father Maciel or

other members of the community on an as needed basis. We all

knew that Nuestro Padre was affected by a variety of illnesses

that required rest, special care, and medication. Knowing Father

Maciel’s secretive nature, it is more than likely that he kept

his personal effects—including more personal medications—

always close at hand, in his room, with his luggage, or in the

infamous crocodile-skin briefcase.

I was never Nuestro Padre’s nurse.

During my stay in Salamanca, Brother Guillermo

Adame was his personal assistant, secretary, valet, nurse and

chauffer. This young man—a dark-skinned well built Mexican

with chiseled features and jet black hair, who was never

ordained—later had a nervous breakdown and left the order; a

“throwaway”? His younger brother, Carlos, was also a member

for a period and he too left without holy orders. Both were

musically talented. I distinctly remember Guillermo playing

Bach’s Toccata on the chapel organ. Other special “secretaries”

to Maciel paraded by during my Legion training in Salamanca

and Rome: Valente Velasquez, Raul De Anda, Bonifacio Padilla,

Francisco Parga and others. In retrospect I thank God for not

having the “privilege” of being particularly close to El Puma.

He did want to be our “father”; he loved to be considered such

by the brothers, and to be addressed with terms of affection.

I remember feeling early on some anger toward a fellow Irish

novice for using what I perceived as the even more endearing

term of “Mon Père” when addressing the Founder. Although

some of the older members used this name, the title smacked

of too much adulation for me.

[3] Father Maciel's Sexual Seduction Technique

2010-01-10T23:56:00.001-08:00

Pedophile founder of the Legion of Christ, Fr. Marcial Maciel, embraces now Superior General, Alvaro Corcuera, after the latter's ordination

El Puma’s Accusers, flashbacks

[excerpt from Our Father [Maciel] who art in bed, a Naive and Sentimental Dubliner in the Legion of Christ....]

I supported Father Peter Cronin when, in 1992, he

initiated a newsletter to other ex-legionaries whose whereabouts

he knew. We were unaware of the serious accusations of sexual

abuse against Father Maciel at that time and for several years

later. The bomb exploded in the American media in 1997 with

the Hartford Courant articles of Renner and Berry. I had not

read them and was still oblivious.

In 1998 I received a phone call at my home from José

Barba: “Paul, do you remember me? I am José Barba. Do you

believe our testimonies?” It was too point-blank. “Testimonies,

about what?” I was totally at sea. I lacked context and

information. First, we had to catch up on the past twenty-five

years of our lives. Such is frequently the disjointed existence

of ex-Legionaries. I remembered José Barba, known as one of

the most intelligent LC students ever, from a visit I paid him

when he was an ex-Legionary teaching at La Universidad de

las Americas in Puebla, Mexico. Legionary priest Juan Manuel

Amenábar—who would later accuse Father Maciel on his

deathbed—because of the relative freedom his fundraising

activities then afforded him, found a way to visit his old

confrere. I do not know why he took me in tow that day.

Barba now launched into an explanation of his efforts to

bring the testimonies of ten ex-Legionaries accusing Father

Maciel of sexually abusing them to the notice of the Catholic

hierarchy. He mentioned other members I knew personally,

Juan Vaca and Arturo Jurado. I was surprised but the stories

seemed credible. He told me about one of his encounters with

Father Maciel. It was true to the Legion atmosphere, and to

the customs and character of the Marcial Maciel I had come to

know beyond the aura of holiness and the legend of integrity.

One thing I was convinced of regarding Maciel: he had no

concern or respect for people. Nevertheless, I could not roundly

condemn him without knowing more. I would be open to

learning more about the accusations. After that I read the

newspaper articles. They rang true. They were all different,

but said the same thing. Maciel’s method sounded uncannily

authentic; the abuse sickeningly real.

“Dear Arturo (Jurado),

On Tuesday I received the videotapes you sent and started

watching them last night (April 4, 2003; Mexican Canal 40,

Círculo Rojo Program April 15, 2002), beginning with the

first video: the “rough” version of the testimonies of three brave

ex-Legionaries. On the screen appeared the face of Jose Barba

whom I haven’t seen for many years, and there he was, full of

dignity, ruefully talking about his abuse. I was saddened and

angry at Father Maciel listening to Jose’s story. I, who love

to sleep late, did not sleep well. I got up at six; a record for

me. As I follow with the second tape, the Mexican Canal 40

report, I understand better the nature of, and grasp the reality

and seriousness of, this abuse. Hearing and watching Alejandro

Espinoza talk about the recruitment of “pretty” boys I made an

uncanny connection with my own “intuition.” I seem to have

stumbled onto the realization of Maciel being an “ephebophile”,

an adult who loves adolescents, a few days ago when I shared

my reflections with our ReGAIN group.

Memories and names from my own experience come

to mind. When I arrived in Salamanca in September 1961,

I do remember seeing a certain Arturo Jurado. He belonged

to another community, and therefore we were not allowed to

speak or communicate in any way, although we lived under

the same roof. (You told me later, Arturo, that Maciel had

you “quarantined” as a form of punishment.) At the time I

assumed Bro. Jurado was already a Philosophy student in

apostolic practices (i.e., a period when the Legionary takes a

break from studies to get experience in one of the Legion’s

Apostolates or missions). From what I remember, although I

could not talk to him, he did seem to be a particularly gentle

and quiet individual. I certainly do not remember crashing into

him during one of our “friendly” intramural soccer matches.

But maybe that too was forbidden to you during your solitary

confinement.”

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

2009-12-27T18:50:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-19T08:59:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-16T10:03:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-15T18:24:00.000-08:00

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

[2] Maciel Seduces Seminarians

2009-12-06T19:28:00.000-08:00

"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

2009-11-30T20:49:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

[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

2009-11-02T17:30:00.000-08:00

[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

2009-10-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

[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

2009-10-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

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]

2009-10-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

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]

2009-09-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

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]

2009-09-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

-------

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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