The Legionaries of Christ have supported their founder, Father Marcial Maciel, for years as accusations were brought against him of sexual abuse. He was accused of sexual abuse of seminarians, and it was later discovered that Fr. Maciel fathered a child. Up to that point, the Legionaries of Christ and their lay organization Regnum Christi defended their founder against what they thought was another liberal attack on the Church.
I personally can't blame them for this. Think of it like this: if your father or brother or best friend was accused of something that seemed contrary to who they were, would you believe it? Of course not, and I think that it's ridiculous to expect that these people would be any different.
Now that it has been proven that the sexual abuse occurred, many people in the Legionaries of Christ have publicly apologized, like the editor of the National Catholic Register.
The good work of the Legionaries of Christ can hardly be argued. They have saved schools from closing, parishes from closing, and most of all they have a great attitude towards volunteer work. To say that the Legionaries of Christ aren't a benefit to the Catholic Church, even from a liberal, shows a serious lack of intelligence and a lack of information. Therefore, I am glad that the Holy See has decided to keep the Legionaries of Christ and the lay movement, Regnum Christi.
HOWEVER, the Holy See has decided that SERIOUS changes must be made. And I agree. Problems obviously existed within the Legionaries of Christ when many seminarians were sexually abused.
All-in-all I believe that it was a smart decision of the Holy See to keep the Legionaries. It also shows prudence to issue changes for the Legionaries, which needs some changes. It doesn't make sense to throw out a computer when all it needs is a new mouse!
Here is a copy of the Holy See's statement. I want to know what you think about all of this?
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