The Legionaries' Last Stand?

At the end of the investigation the visitors will deliver a report to the Holy See which will decide on the way forward.

ROME (Chiesa) - In two days, the announced apostolic visitation of the congregation of the Legionaries of Christ will begin.

The visitors appointed by the Holy See are the following five bishops:

- Ricardo Watti Urquidi, bishop of Tepic in Mexico, in charge of the visitation in Mexico and Central America, where the Legionaries have 44 houses with 250 priests and 115-120 religious and aspiring priests;

- Charles J. Chaput, archbishop of Denver, responsible for the United States and Canada, where the Legionaries have 24 houses with 130 priests and 260 religious and aspiring priests;

- Giuseppe Versaldi, bishop of Alexandria, responsible for Italy, Israel, the Philippines, and South Korea, where the Legionaries have 16 houses with 200 priests and 420 religious and aspiring priests;

- Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, archbishop of Concepción in Chile, in charge of Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, and Venezuela, where the Legionaries have 20 houses with 122 priests and 120 religious and aspiring priests;

- Ricardo Blázquez Pérez, bishop of Bilbao, responsible for Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Holland, Poland, Austria, and Hungary, where the Legionaries have 20 houses with 105 priests and 160 religious and aspiring priests.

The investiture of the five visitors took place at the Vatican on the morning of Saturday, June 27, in a meeting with the cardinals Tarcisio Bertone, secretary of state, William J. Levada, prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, and Franc Rodé, prefect of the congregation for institutes of religious life.

At the meeting, the five were read the conclusions of the Vatican investigation that led in 2006 to the condemnation of the priest Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legionaries of Christ and of the lay movement Regnum Christi connected to it, for the sexual abuse of many of his young disciples, over the span of several decades.

After his death in 2008, at the age of 88, it was discovered that Maciel also had a daughter, who is now about twenty years old and lives in Spain, born from a relationship between the priest and a Mexican lover.

For a religious congregation that had its undisputed model in Maciel, the disorientation has been extremely severe. This has led to the Vatican decision to proceed with an apostolic visitation. At the end of the investigation, the visitors will deliver a report to the Holy See, which will decide on the basis of it.

The request for an apostolic visitation had been advanced, in the early months of this year, by some of the most prominent Legionaries themselves.

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One of these is the American Thomas Berg (in the photo), a member of the Legionaries of Christ since 1986, a priest since 2000, professor and confessor at the Legion seminary in Thornwood, New York, and very involved in formation activities. In April, he left the congregation, and asked to be incardinated into the archdiocese of New York. Archbishop Timothy Dolan made him a vicar of the parish of St. Columba in Hopewell Junction. Berg is also the director of the Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person.

In this interview, Fr. Berg explains in measured terms what is truly at stake, what are the strong and weak points of the congregation under investigation, what must be demolished and what rebuilt. He denounces the cult of personality that still surrounds the figure of Maciel. He criticizes the reasons why obedience to superiors often degenerates into blind submission. And he highlights the fundamental question: how it is possible that so many good things have come out of an institution that has been shown to be so full of flaws.

It is the first time that an authoritative member of the Legionaries of Christ, a member for many years, has spoken publicly and candidly about the crucial problems that have exploded in this congregation.

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Chiesa is a wonderful source on all things Catholic in Europe. It is skillfully edited by Sandro Magister. SANDRO MAGISTER was born on the feast of the Guardian Angels in 1943, in the town of Busto Arsizio in the archdiocese of Milan. The following day he was baptized into the Catholic Church. His wife’s name is Anna, and he has two daughters, Sara and Marta. He lives in Rome.