Person, Charism, and the Legionaries of Christ

This past May, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), with the approval of the Holy Father, issued a communiqué indicating that the decision had been made “to invite” Father Marcial Maciel “to a reserved life of penitence and prayer, relinquishing any form of public ministry.”

Fr. Maciel is the founder of the Legionaries of Christ and its lay association, Regnum Christi. The Legion has more than 600 priests and 2,500 seminarians in some twenty countries, while Regnum Christi has more than 65,000 members around the world. The congregation and the lay movement are marked by apostolic zeal and vibrant orthodoxy. Both were strongly supported by Pope John Paul II.

As with other new movements in the history of the Church, the Legion and its lay association have had their share of critics. In addition to those who disliked the Legion’s firm adherence to Church authority, there were those who accused it of being elitist, secretive, and excessively interested in cultivating the rich in order to fund its ambitious program of building educational and other institutions. Much of the criticism, I expect, is generated by envy of the Legion’s success, especially in attracting priestly vocations in a time when vocations to most other religious orders are in sharp decline. But there are additional dynamics in play.

Fr. Maciel retired from active leadership in 2005. Beginning in the 1990s, a number of charges of sexual wrongdoing, related to alleged events in the 1940s and 1950s, were brought against Fr. Maciel by former members of the Legion. The CDF conducted an investigation of the charges, but because of Fr. Maciel’s fragile health and advanced age of eighty-six, it did not conduct a canonical hearing. Since there was no canonical hearing, there is no canonical judgment of his guilt or innocence regarding the alleged wrongdoings.

The most precise statement of what has happened, I believe, is that, in the judgment of the CDF and the pope, it is in the best interests of the Church, the Legion, and Fr. Maciel that he relinquish his public ministry and devote the remainder of his life to penitence and prayer. It should be noted that “penitence” in this connection need not connote punishment for the wrongdoing of which he was accused. All Christians are to be engaged in penitence and prayer. At the same time, the invitation to remove himself from public ministry is undeniably a form of censure. Making a clear distinction between the founder and the work he launched and led, the Vatican statement also said that “the worthy apostolate of the Legionaries of Christ and of the association Regnum Christi is gratefully recognized.”

Although I have no formal connection with the Legion or Regnum Christi, I have over the years been a strong supporter of both. They have in the past, do now, and will, I pray, in the future provide vibrant apostolates in the service of Christ and his Church. When the charges against Fr. Maciel first surfaced, I studied the matter with care and had detailed discussions with knowledgeable people on all sides of the ensuing controversy. I then said that I was “morally certain” that the charges were false. Moral certitude, it should be noted, is a very high degree of probability that justifies action but is short of certitude described as absolute, mathematical, or metaphysical.

I do not know all that the CDF and the Holy Father know and am not privy to the considerations that led to their decision. It is reasonable to believe that they concluded that Fr. Maciel did do something very seriously wrong. To censure publicly, toward the end of his life, the founder of a large and growing religious community is an extraordinary, perhaps unprecedented, measure in Catholic history. Moreover, because the only public and actionable charges against Fr. Maciel had to do with sexual abuse, the clear implication is that that was the reason for the censure. In view of the public knowledge of the charges, it is not plausible that he was censured for some other and unknown reason.

The official statement of the Legion says: “Fr. Maciel, with the spirit of obedience to the Church that has always characterized him, has accepted this communiqué with faith, complete serenity, and tranquility of conscience, knowing that it is a new cross that God, the Father of Mercy, has allowed him to suffer and that will obtain many graces for the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement. The Legionaries of Christ and the members of Regnum Christi, following the example of Fr. Maciel and united to him, accept and will accept always the directives of the Holy See with a profound spirit of obedience and faith. We renew our commitment to work with great intensity to live our charism of charity and extend the Kingdom of Christ serving the Church.”

The Legion statement also says, “Facing the accusations made against him, [Fr. Maciel] declared his innocence and, following the example of Christ, decided not to defend himself in any way.” The venerable spiritual tradition being invoked here is that of purification through suffering, in the confidence that Fr. Maciel will one day be vindicated. It must in fairness be noted that there is ample historical precedent of holy men and women who were unjustly treated by church authorities. That possibility cannot be categorically excluded in the instance of Fr. Maciel.

It was hardly the only factor, but one of the many factors that entered into my earlier judgment regarding Fr. Maciel’s innocence was my great respect for John Paul II and his repeated statements of support for the Legion and its founder. It also seemed to me that it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to adjudicate fairly charges based on various stories about what happened fifty and sixty years ago. With similar respect for the office and person of Pope Benedict, I cannot protest the directive implying that Fr. Maciel is guilty of grave wrongdoing. Again, it is obvious that the CDF and the Holy Father know more than I know with respect to evidence supporting the guilt or innocence of Fr. Maciel.

What We Know

When the Vatican communiqué was issued, the New York Times reported that I continued to believe that the charges were “groundless.” That is not true. The fact is that I simply do not know, and none of us may ever know for sure. We can be sure that the CDF and the Holy Father did not act without good reason. Some of the accusers and the reporters who have been publicizing their cause for years suggest that their claims have been entirely vindicated. That, too, is not true. As others among the accusers have complained, the Vatican communiqué does not state any findings of guilt. Things are left in the realm of implication and inference.

This is not how the Church is ordinarily supposed to operate. Ecclesiastical procedures are supposed to be a “mirror of justice” in which accusations, evidence, and judgment are clear to all concerned. It is not explained why age and fragility of health precluded a canonical procedure. Reliable sources say that, to their knowledge, Fr. Maciel is in reasonably good health. After years of the mishandling of sex-abuse accusations by bishops in this country, there is a widespread and understandable skepticism about whether either accusers or accused are treated justly. In the extraordinary instance of Fr. Maciel, we are asked simply to accept the decision of the CDF and the Holy Father. This faithful Catholics will readily do, although not without noting that no luster has been added to the mirror of justice.

Now comes a time of daunting challenges for the Legionaries of Christ. At the highest level of the Church’s leadership, a deep shadow has been cast over their founder. In view of his age and the way the decision was made, it is almost certain that the shadow will not be lifted in his lifetime, if ever. In the historical experience of religious orders, the founder and the charism-meaning the distinctive spirituality by which the community is formed—cannot be easily separated. The Legion has been particularly intense in its devotion to its founder, who has been revered as a living saint. It is understandable that Legionaries who have known Fr. Maciel for many years simply cannot bring themselves to believe that he is guilty of the charges that have been brought against him. Whether misplaced or not, such devotion is not untouched by honor and faithfulness to a father and friend. But, in the future of the Legion and Regnum Christi, belief in the innocence of Fr. Maciel cannot be made an article of faith.

Nor is it helpful to speak of the Holy See’s decision as yet another cross imposed on Fr. Maciel and the Legion. A “cross” may mean any burden to be borne, but, in this context, “bearing the cross” clearly suggests a wrong or injustice. The cross imposed on Christ was unjustly imposed. To continue to speak of the censure as a cross imposed could have the effect of putting the Legion on a collision course with the papacy. At the heart of the congregation’s charism is wholehearted adherence to the ministry of Peter among us. The leadership of the Legion has unambiguously reaffirmed that adherence in a private audience with the pope following the censure of Fr. Maciel.

Again, it is possible that Fr. Maciel is entirely innocent. Popes, too, make mistakes. I have heard it proposed by more than one friend of the Legion that the pope, faced with the publicity of the charges and the impossibility of adjudicating the matter to anyone’s satisfaction, simply asked Fr. Maciel to take a bullet for the sake of the Church, and Fr. Maciel agreed. However messy, that at least would dispose of the matter. That explanation is, I believe, quite implausible. Not least because it would be a grave disservice of the truth to clearly imply, as the decision does clearly imply, that an innocent Fr. Maciel is guilty, at least in part, of the wrongdoing of which he was accused.

The future of the Legion and Regnum Christi cannot depend on the innocence or guilt of Fr. Maciel. Founder and charism may not be entirely separable, but they can be clearly distinguished. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels,” said St. Paul. That Fr. Maciel may have been much more earthen than was believed by those who admired him does not negate the treasure of what God did through him, including the spiritual writings so valued by the Legion. “By their fruits you shall know them,” said Our Lord. The mighty works of God that have been done and are being done by the Legionaries and Regnum Christi are manifest to all whose vision is not clouded by prejudice.

Obviously, I care deeply about this movement of the Spirit, and I know that many readers share that devotion. I have over the years encountered in the Legion and Regnum Christi priests and laypeople as faithful, joyful, dedicated, and talented as any it has ever been my blessing to know. The months and years ahead must be a time of profound self-examination, reform, and renewal. Earnestly and confidently I pray, and invite all to pray, that the magnificent apostolates of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi will continue to flourish in the service of Christ and his Church.