Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday took control of the Legionaries of Christ, a powerful and wealthy Roman Catholic religious order whose founder, a close friend of Pope John Paul II, was found to have molested seminarians and fathered several children.
The moves constituted the most direct action on sexual abuse since the most recent scandals have engulfed the church and prompted criticisms of the pope’s own handling of such cases as an archbishop in Munich and as a cardinal who led the body reviewing many sexual abuse charges.
In a statement on Saturday, the Vatican said that Benedict would appoint a special delegate to govern the Legionaries, an influential worldwide order that has been an important source of new ordinations in a church that has struggled with a shrinking priesthood in much of the developed world. It was founded in 1941 by a Mexican priest, the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado. Pope Benedict also said he would appoint a special commission to examine the Legionaries’ constitution and open an investigation into the its lay affiliate, Regnum Christi.
The Vatican hasn’t figured it out yet – aggressive, public, and harsh is the way to grab the faithful’s attention and to, at least, look like its taking the problems seriously.
This isn’t all the pope is doing. In Miami organized devout Catholics had gone to Rome complaining–with strong evidence–that a homosexual cabal was running the archdiocese through a gay bishop. The bishop just today had his retirement request immediately accepted –8 months before the bishop’s birthday. Unheard of–usually a bishop is allowed to remain in office until the actual date of his 75th birthday (unless he has done something evil or is sick—the bishop claims he is in good health.) How much media coverage will this story get??? But, maybe, no coverage would be best, for we all know the pro-gay tornado spin the media would give this story.
But, if true, it should be exposed. The elephant in the living room doesn’t go away by ignoring it.
A couple of termites crawling across the counter-top might indicate a fiesta within the walls. Church needs a bug doctor.
‘The Vatican hasn’t figured it out yet – aggressive, public, and harsh is the way to grab the faithful’s attention and to, at least, look like its taking the problems seriously.’
Perhaps but the Pope will choose a less sensationalist route seeking to do God’s will rather than placate the angry mob with jesture. Knee jerk reaction or careless axe swinging could affect the innocent and cause more damage. Sort it he will but in his own way.
gesture is what I meant!
Many conservative Roman Catholics feel that this is the worst crisis to have struck their Church in its history and that the repercussions from it will be irreversible. I am very certain that there will be much more to come and it could reach a tipping-point.
I’m not a Roman Catholic or ex-Catholic, and can’t claim personal knowledge of the history of the Legionaires of Christ as an order, or the whole sexual abuse scandal, but this kind of sad revelation inevitably undermines the credibility of church leaders, when a previously admired founder of a religious order is exposed as a scoundrel, who abused seminarians, fathered (not one but ) several children, and also stole funds. And the whole atmosphere of secrecy and deference to superiors within the order apparently contributed greatly to how long this terrible situation was allowed to go on, festeriing in the dark.
When even a very loyal and conservative Catholic like George Weigel calls for “a definitive and unambiguous break from the past” (i.e., cleaning house within the order, presumably by purging some current leaders), you know it’s really, really bad.
Hindsight is 20/20 and armchair critiques by outsiders who don’t know all the facts are always questionable, but it does appear that the top levels of the Vatican are finally waking up to the extent of the danger. But the Roman Catholic Church, like an aircraft carrier or a huge cruise ship, takes a very long time to turn around.
David Handy+