AmericanPapist Comments
Archbishop O'Brien spoke in an interview with John Allen about intervention by several figures in the Vatican that stayed his hand:
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from the interview:
Just to be clear, you had actually reached a decision to ask them to leave?
We were tantamount to doing that.
Then it was an intervention from the Holy See that asked you to meet first with Fr. Corcuera, and your letter came out of that process?
That’s right, yes.
When did the Holy See step in?
I got a call 20 minutes before my meeting with Fr. Raymond [Cosgrave] two months ago. Then I got a letter from another cardinal, and a phone call from a third cardinal the day before I met with Fr. Alvaro.
The tenor of all three was to give Fr. Corcuera a chance?
Yes. One of them said, you have the authority to take many actions here. We just ask you not to take any action until he has a chance to speak with you.
The Archbishop made it pretty clear that if they did not give him what he was asking for, they were out. Not much virtue in their action, then.
I don't understand. Why, if they are doing so much good, do they want them out? This is not a rhetorical question. I am not a member of RC but know many members and they strive to live holy lives and love Christ deeply. Same with the Opus Dei members I know. I know my b-in-law does have a problem with the LC in that seems the boys/men have no personality of their own but are modeled to be a certain way, from his experience in being a seminarian and knowing guys who have really been messed up by the LC process.
That's a lousy article in the Baltimore paper, the Legion is not "traditionalist".
There is much nuance to this situation. I am an RC member from nearby Washington, DC (although currently forward deployed abroad for the military), and am also a friend of Archbishop O'Brien's from a time when I worked for him at he Archdiocese for the Military Services, when he was also my Ordinary. I believe both parties to have nothing but the best of intentions, though their particular methods are bound to conflict.
The LC consists of men unquestionable in their holiness. Though there have been many complaints about individual Legionaries through their history, a quick conversation with nearly any LC priest or seminarian will quickly demonstrate the profound holiness that the Legion cultivates in its members. That said, it is still a very young order that is still in the process of discerning how best to operate and make its Founder's vision function in circumstances that are very different from those in Mexico in the 1940s and 1950s. Often, we expect new congregations to be as mature and confident in their ways as the older orders. It is foolish, however, to assume that the Legion of Christ, dating to the 1940s, will function as consistently as the Order of Preachers, dating to 1216.
In this vein, it is easier to understand why the LC does not always trust local bishops, especially when considered in light of the lack of orthodoxy and missionary enthusiasm of many diocesan bishops in the United States. The situation is similar to that of Anglo-Catholics in England who wish to swim the Tiber, but are hindered by the less-than-solid English episcopacy.
Archbishop O'Brien, however, is not one of these. He is a holy man who is confident in his ways and unafraid to confront those whom he believes are not acting in accord with the best interests of the Church. In this case, he heard many rumors and much conjecture from both sides as to the LC's effects on the Archdiocese of Baltimore, but had no solid data from which to draw his own conclusions. His desire for transparency conflicted with the Legion's general practice to stay below the radar, even to the point of hiding much of its activities in the fear of being impeded by heterodox bishops.
I am very glad, then, to see that the Legion has decided to put aside its fears and cooperate. I am also very glad to see the Archbishop restrain his tendencies and act with patience and understanding. I believe that the Legion will benefit greatly from the guidance of Archbishop O'Brien, who has been a true father in faith to me. I believe, as well, that the church of Baltimore will reap great rewards from the missionary zeal and great faith of the Legion of Christ within its bounds.
Please pray, then, for Baltimore and for her holy clergy, both diocesan and religious. If only more bishops had the prudence of Edwin O'Brien, and more clerics the drive of the Legionaries of Christ.
In Christ,
Douglas Gates
Long and winding apologies by RC members about young congregations (the LC is not that young, and they should know better, especially because they think so highly of themselves) and the favorite target of the proud: the so called "liberal bishop". Straw men to beat. Then they claim that O'Brien, however, is not one of these. This is all just talk. Legion talk. Lies and subterfuge.
If more clerics had the drive of the Legionaries of Christ, the Catholic Church would not be following the pope, it would be following the super rich Mexican elite right off a cliff.
An archbishop as prudent, holy, and confident as Doug Gates and I think Archbishop O'Brien to be, does not come to the verge of kicking a movement out of his archdiocese based merely on "many rumors and much conjecture from both sides as to the LC's effects on the Archdiocese of Baltimore, but ... no solid data."
Three cardinals calling Archbishop O'Brien to plead the LC's case does not equal "the Vatican" staying his hand. Cdls. Sodano, Rode, and someone else?
Exclblogger, do you have some insights to share so we know where you're coming from? ALthough I do not know the particulars, it seems that any prudent bishop would want to know the nature and extent of an Order's work in his diocese. Tom
A few examples which come to mind:
There is ample evidence that the Legion of Christ has allied itself with the Garza Medina (a sibling of that family, Luis, is the vicar general of the Legion: and despite his vow of poverty, is still an heir to the family fortune) family and its Grupo Alpha, as well as the Slim family in Mexico.
(well documented by another sibling, Roberta, who is a news editor of Milenio in Mexico)
Interestingly, the family of one of the first benefactors of the Legion in Mexico, Flora Baragan, has denouced the Legion and claims that it destroyed their family and its fortunes.
(documented in "Marcial Maciel" by Fernando Morillo Gonzalez)
Testimonies from priests who worked in Mexico in the 1970 are ripe with examples of how Legion superiors told them to simply tell adulterous wealthy men in that country to confess and pray the rosary and not worry about their moral lives. This helped to cause the defection of some of the first Irish priests in the Legion.
The Legion started Banco Compartamos, which has been exposed to be incredible usurous (and profitable) with its micro-loans to the poor.
(exposed in Businessweek, Dec. 13, 2007.)
Glenn, lies and conjecture? It's nice to meet you, too. Also, sixty years is indeed very young when compared with the 2,000 year history of the Church. Our founder died a within the last year; St. Ignatius died four centuries ago, and the Jesuits are still one of the younger orders in the Church.
Jeanette, thank you for your kind words for Archbishop O'Brien. I suppose we'll have to wait and see what he does after he has a chance to review all of the information that the LC has turned over to him. If it is as you say it is, then I would expect him to act on his prior instincts to evict the Legion. If, however, he is satisfied that they are cooperating, then perhaps the Legionaries aren't doing such a bad job in Baltimore, after all.
Doug, thanks. We'll see.
I'm not crazy about your allusion to heterodox bishops. Only one of the American bishops that has banned or restricted the LC/RC, is liberal: Cardinal Mahoney. The others are solid enough. This is what really turned me off about Regnum Christi. I heard way too much false innuendo about anti-LC priests and laity. In today's climate, it's a terrible sin to sully the reputation of an innocent priest (and I say that as a survivor of a pedophile pastor). So lay off the implication that the only reason the LC is secretive, is that liberal bishops and priests don't like them.
A bishop can reasonably expect that any order operating in his area will let him know what they're doing. Also, if he's hearing bad stuff about secretive groups working with kids, he would be wrong not to demand to know the full situation.
In the good archbishop's previous gig in the see of military chaplains, I'm sure he learned that evasive or partial answers aren't answers at all.
Bishops don't have full control over orders; so if something looks like it's gone pear-shaped, a bishop doesn't have a huge amount of recourse other than asking people to go.
Ideally, everyone is working together to the glory of God as equal partners, yes. But there's a reason we have bishops -- to be "overseers", like the word says. They get to go to hell if they don't act as overseers, and I'm guessing the archbishop would kinda prefer not to burn for all eternity.
Jeannette,
I admire you for your commitment to the Faith, and I pray that all the faithful might have the same patience as you have had with the Church. Thank you.
I believe you have misunderstood my point. The Legion has developed a sometimes unfounded fear of heterodox bishops, imagining them in dioceses where they do not exist at all (as in Baltimore). This is one of the examples of the immaturity of the LC, and an area in which it needs great improvement.
This is why I am so glad to see the LC and Archbishop O'Brien working together to hash out their differences. This is a step forward for the Legion. I hope that those out their who have been openly hostile to the LC might recognize this, and appreciate it as much as I do.
Thanks again, and God bless.
A step forward because they were forced to do so. And by the looks of it, they have not even come close to admitting that they were wrong. They are never wrong, just "misunderstood".
"The Legion has developed a sometimes unfounded fear of heterodox bishops, imagining them in dioceses where they do not exist at all (as in Baltimore). This is one of the examples of the immaturity of the LC, and an area in which it needs great improvement."
In other words: paranoia. This has been my experience, too.
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