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

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"

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

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?

[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...

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!

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

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...