Miami archdiocese bans Legionaries of Christ, Regnum Christi [CWN]

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The Archdiocese of Miami has prohibited the Legionaries of Christ from functioning in any capacity in the archdiocese.

“In the past, their priests were given individual approval by the Vicar General each time they wished to come to the Archdiocese of Miami but their ministry was restricted to their own members,” said archdiocesan chancellor Msgr. Michael Souckar in an October 29 memo to all priests. “Because the Legionaries of Christ have not abided by these restrictions, Archbishop [John] Favalora has barred them from any ministry in the Archdiocese of Miami.”

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CWN_News said:
The Archdiocese of Miami has prohibited the Legionaries of Christ from functioning in any capacity in the archdiocese.

“In the past, their priests were given individual approval by the Vicar General each time they wished to come to the Archdiocese of Miami but their ministry was restricted to their own members,” said archdiocesan chancellor Msgr. Michael Souckar in an October 29 memo to all priests. “Because the Legionaries of Christ have not abided by these restrictions, Archbishop [John] Favalora has barred them from any ministry in the Archdiocese of Miami.”

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The Legionaries of Christ have certainly got problems but is it just me that finds this incredibly hypocritical. Unless the Archdiocese of Miami has had no Priests or Brothers accused of sexual abuse and unless they have the sure fire method of getting rid of every Priest and Brother who has and will abuse children, then they have no moral right to impose this.
 
canadianguy1143 said:
The Legionaries of Christ have certainly got problems but is it just me that finds this incredibly hypocritical. Unless the Archdiocese of Miami has had no Priests or Brothers accused of sexual abuse and unless they have the sure fire method of getting rid of every Priest and Brother who has and will abuse children, then they have no moral right to impose this.
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They are not being banned for having a sexual predator as their founder. The Archdiocese of Miami restricted the Legionaries ministry to their own members; they didn’t comply with this restriction. The archdiocese is perfectly within its rights. Where’s the hypocrisy?
 
I am a member as well as a school parent of the parish in question. It was the activities of Regnum Christi at our parish and school that caused the archbishop to ban them after recieving hundreds of letters of complaint and concern from parishioners and parents. It had absolutely nothing to do with sexual abuse. Every person I have spoken to completely supports the archbishop’s decision. Yes, we have had our share of problems in the archdiocese. Several have been linked to our parish; so we have felt the pain personally.
 
Brickmaker said:
They are not being banned for having a sexual predator as their founder. The Archdiocese of Miami restricted the Legionaries ministry to their own members; they didn’t comply with this restriction. The archdiocese is perfectly within its rights. Where’s the hypocrisy?
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I misunderstood what was being said (that means I didn’t read it right). You are right.
 
A bishop constitutes a local Church, according to canon law. Therefore, any bishop has the right to limit the ministry of any group within the boundaries of his diocese. He does not need to have a reason. As the successor to the Apostles, he is the sole authority in his diocese. He has no authority over an organization that is canonically erect. But this is not the case here.

The issue here is very simple. The Legion was never canonically erected in the Archdiocese. They petitioned the chancery for permmission to enter the diocese on a case by case basis. The permission and necessary faculties to celebrate the sacraments were given with restrictions. They were to enter the diocese and minister to their own and no one else. They did not have faculties to hear anyone’s confession, who is not a member of their organization. They did not have faculties to preach to anyone or in any locale that is not one of their properties or associated establishments.

When a cleric or religious goes outside of these limitations he or she is functioning illicitly In that case.The local bishop has the authority to bar them from his diocese for abusing the faculties given to them.

This is not a case of a religious institute that has been canonically erected in a diocese. Once canonically erected, the bishop cannot suppress them. That authority belongs to the Holy See alone. However, even if a bishop does not have the auhority to suppress an organization or religious community that has been canonically erected, even then he has the authority to deny them faculties outside of their establishments and deny them faculties to serve the people of his diocese.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
The bishop can not and may not ban Regnum Christie from its diocese. How dare he ban lay people from practicing their faith as they see fit. He may ban the priests, but not the spirituality. In my view, the LoC are the only order of priests that make themselves available to the laity for regular spiritual direction.

When he is ready to provide every Catholic spiritual direction then maybe he is doing the right thing. I encourage the faithful Catholics of the diocese to call the good bishop and ask to schedule spiritual direction and an evening of recollection. I would guess that he would be unavailable and not have the time.
 
Lurch104 said:
The bishop can not and may not ban Regnum Christie from its diocese. How dare he ban lay people from practicing their faith as they see fit. He may ban the priests, but not the spirituality. In my view, the LoC are the only order of priests that make themselves available to the laity for regular spiritual direction.

When he is ready to provide every Catholic spiritual direction then maybe he is doing the right thing. I encourage the faithful Catholics of the diocese to call the good bishop and ask to schedule spiritual direction and an evening of recollection. I would guess that he would be unavailable and not have the time.
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Let’s take this in baby steps.
  1. A bishop has the apostolic authority to ban anyone and any ministry from his diocese. The only ones with whom he cannot interfere are with exempt religious. And even in that case, he can limit their activities to their canonically erected houses and he can forbid the faithful from approaching these religious houses under penalty of sin.
  2. He can ban lay people from exercising any ministry.
  3. Regnum Christi is an association of the faithful. Under canon law, all associations of the faithful come under the jurisdiction of the bishop. Therefore, he can ban them. He can even excommunicate them if they do not adhere to the ban.
  4. Your statement about the LC being the only group that provides spiritual direction is not accurate. In the Archdioces of Miami there is a very large spiritual direction movement with trained spiritual directors. They are one of the few diocese that have a school for training spiritual directors. I checked it out, they also have four religious orders who do spiritual direction:
a. The Sisters of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary
b. The Discalced Carmelite Friars
c. The Dominican Friars
d. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate
  1. Then there are trained lay people, trained secular priests and trained deacons.
  2. That archdiocese also has two centers of spirituality:
a. Morning Star – run by the Order of Discalced Carmelites Secular
b. Madonna Spiritual Center – run by the Claretian Sisters
  1. People have other choices.
  2. We cannot defend spiritual direction and the right to a spiritual life while we encourage people to challenge the apostolic authority of their bishop. Obedience to the bishop is part of the spiritual life, unless the bishop orders you to commit a sin, which is not the case here.
You also have to understand why they were banned from the diocese. They failed to comply with the boundaries that the bishop placed on them. They were not to go into Catholic schools without permission and they did. They were not to minister to the laity, but only to their priests and they did. They were to communicate with the bishop on their activities and they failed to do so. They were not to promote vocations to the LC without the bishop’s permission and the permission of the parents in the case of minors.

Any group that goes into a diocese must keep the bishop informed of their activity and must abide by the boundaries given by the bishop. This is what got the LC and the RC into trouble. It did not have to be this way, if they had abided by the agreement between them and the diocese. I believe that Br. David, O’Carm clarified this in a previous post.

I hope this clarifies the reasons for the ban.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
After a quick read of the the actions of the bishop, I am not surprised he does not want an orthodox Catholic organization operating within its boundaries. It may interfere with the goddess worshipping nuns, Fr. Oprah, the many openly gay priests, and the his opposition to pro life legislation. By their fruits you shall know them.

I really hope that the gay mens chorus parish tour is going well this year.
 
I am saddened by your response, Lurch, too characteristic of the pattern of response from pro LC/RC voices. JR Education has responded gently and reasonably with truth and charity to your comments about SD. Yet you are unable to acknowledge any fault on the part of the LC or RC in their banning in Miami. Instead, you seek dirt on the archbishop and his archdiocese, in order to blame his liberalism or lack of orthodoxy for the banning of such an orthodox group. Is disobedience to the local ordinary okay with you?

I suggest you print out your entirely uncharitable comments here on this thread and bring them with you to your next spiritual direction session.

In the meantime, I will continue to pray for the LofC, the RC members, the Apostolic Visitation, all victims of MM’s abuses, MM’s offspring, and for healing of all the damage done to the Church by every scandal related to the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi.
 
Lurch104 said:
The bishop can not and may not ban Regnum Christie from its diocese. How dare he ban lay people from practicing their faith as they see fit. He may ban the priests, but not the spirituality.
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A bishop can ban their activities. He can’t keep them from (personally) praying as they feel called.
 
How does it work regarding confession? I thought it was against canon law for a priest to deny any reasonable request for Confession. Priests are not supposed to screen for lay movement affiliation, or anything else. Also lay movements do not give out ID cards or anything. If the priests are just doing their job and the lay people go to them without telling them they are not RC, what do the priests do? There would have to be a very careful screening of those attending a function with the LC… but I doubt it would be perfect screening because there isn’t such a thing.
 
Well, I would love to bring this to my next spiritual direction session, but unfortunately I have none available. See, the priests of my diocese are too busy or otherwise occupied. I was driving 2.5 hours each way to the Baltimore Archdiocese for spiritual direction, but the liberal Bishop also was not happy that an orthodox group was operating in his diocese. I now drive to Washington DC when I can as the Opus Dei priests are willing to make time for people, but it is very difficult to make the longer trip with any regularity.

Also, my spiritual director nor any priest I have had contact with in the LoC has never been accused of abuse. However you seem to hold the sins (accusations since he is not alive to defend himself) of one against the entire order.

I am growing more and more disheartened that the “spirit of Vatican II” is now leading the church and they are silencing anyone who does not share their views. Homosexual and dissenting priests and orders are everywhere, yet the hierarchy seems to only care about and persecute the orthodox. Sr. Joan Chittister operates her female ordination/pro abortion ministry not too far from here, but no one seems to care.

I am very close to joining a Byzantine rite or Russian Orthodox since the leaders of the Roman Catholic church seem to have no time for anyone not interested in drum circle new age spirituality. I have made contact, but I am not yet willing to give up my church because it is being run by the hippy generation of the 60’s at the moment.

I am very saddened for the orthodox people of Miami who now have lost a very valuable point of spiritual nourishment and guidance.
pigpen said:
I am saddened by your response, Lurch, too characteristic of the pattern of response from pro LC/RC voices. JR Education has responded gently and reasonably with truth and charity to your comments about SD. Yet you are unable to acknowledge any fault on the part of the LC or RC in their banning in Miami. Instead, you seek dirt on the archbishop and his archdiocese, in order to blame his liberalism or lack of orthodoxy for the banning of such an orthodox group. Is disobedience to the local ordinary okay with you?

I suggest you print out your entirely uncharitable comments here on this thread and bring them with you to your next spiritual direction session.

In the meantime, I will continue to pray for the LofC, the RC members, the Apostolic Visitation, all victims of MM’s abuses, MM’s offspring, and for healing of all the damage done to the Church by every scandal related to the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi.
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Lurch, I find you response so sad and full of spin. Yes, many scandals have occured here in Miami as in most other dioceses in the nation. Some have been handled better than others. Now that you mention the Father Oprah scandal, did you bother to look into the Archbishop’s official response? It was very direct and completely in line with church teaching. Father Oprah as he is called has been known and very loved in our parish since he was a teenager in our youth groups and I can tell you firsthand that the community was very saddened and did not support his decisions at all. Just because things have happened does not mean people support it. The community is actually predominantly hispanic which tends to be more conservative and not as liberal as you seem to think.
 
Lurch104 said:
After a quick read of the the actions of the bishop, I am not surprised he does not want an orthodox Catholic organization operating within its boundaries. It may interfere with the goddess worshipping nuns,
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There are only four congregations of sisters who operate in the Archdiocese of Miami:

Sisters of the Pierced Hearts, Claetian Sisters, Carmelite Discalced Sisters and the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart. Which ones are the godess worshipping nuns? All of them are very faithful and devout women.
Fr. Oprah, the many openly gay priests
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Who are the openly gay priests that operate in the Archdiocese? Do you know any by name, who have not been suspended?
, and the his opposition to pro life legislation.
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The Archdiocese of Miami has a very large Resepct Life Office fully supported by the Archbishop with its own Board of Advisors, its own auxiliary bishop assigned to this ministry, its own Catholic expert on bioethics, who is a priest of the Archdiocese assigned by the bishop, and is run by my religious community. We have 23 brothers in that diocese running five pregnancy centers. We have 121 parishes with a Respect Life Coordinator in each, and a program on chastity education for youth and many other things happening behind the scenes. The Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of Miami operates with the support of the Knights of Columbus, the Archbishop and a 20 Secular Franciscans who were assigned to it for the sole purpose of making sure that the por-life legislation is carefully studied and promoted among the laity. What else whould you like to see the bishop do?

Today, he made sure that every parish hande a copy the the USCCB’s email to every lay adult at every mass in the Archdiocese. This was a command performance that he ordered the pastors to do under obedience in a formal decree made only hours after the USCCB posted it’s email.

And I’m schedule to go down there in November to preach three retreats on the Gospel of Life, in English, Spanish and Creole. This is by invitation of the Archbishop’s Office for Respect Life.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
E_Glynn said:
How does it work regarding confession? I thought it was against canon law for a priest to deny any reasonable request for Confession. Priests are not supposed to screen for lay movement affiliation, or anything else. Also lay movements do not give out ID cards or anything. If the priests are just doing their job and the lay people go to them without telling them they are not RC, what do the priests do? There would have to be a very careful screening of those attending a function with the LC… but I doubt it would be perfect screening because there isn’t such a thing.
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There is a misunderstanding here. It’s the priest of the LC who cannot hear confessions in the Archdiocese. If they do, the absolution is invalid. Lay members of the LC and RC can go to confession to any priest, except the priests of the LC, because their faculties are suspended in the Archdiocese. The RC cannot operate as a group in the Archdiocese. They can belong to the RC, but they may not function in any pastoral capacity. This does not mean that an individual cannot participate or volunteer in his parish. He may not do so as a representative of the RC. But he can do so as a private citizen and is encouraged to do so.

This is not just for the Archdiocese of Miami. This is for any diocese. A bishop can take away anyone’s faculties and any lay group’s right to oeprate in his diocese. The only groups that the bishop cannot suppress in his diocese are Secular Orders, because they are true orders and are totally dependent on the Holy See. All other lay groups are subject to the authority of the Bishop. Even in the case of Secular and Religious Orders, the bishop can ask their superiors to remove them from his diocese or to limit their activities to their own members.

I hope this clears up the confusion.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
Since he’s banning the LC, what order of priests is he bringing in to replace them?
 
To the MIA Parishioner “who felt the pain” what you just replied to me about in a personal email is that your pastor likes the LC and brought them in because he believes in their work. The parishioners, especially with kids at the school, were not happy with their conservativism and complained. I don’t think you “felt” any pain…you guys are just liberal and felt intimidated. The parents thought the kids, who were being told that the clubs were available to join, were being pushed into something. Did they feel this way with Girls Scouts?

It is very unlike the LC to do anything against what the bishop tells them. I think there is just a supreme lack of information here, to say the least.
 
Regarding confession…

Something does not seem right here. Why would the LC agree to go into a diocese without faculties? It does not seem like the LC were “kicked out” at all …there seems to be a huge miscommunication here, especially since the pastor of a church, who ought to know what the LC are allowed to do in his own diocese, brought them in, or was it just the apostolates he brought in? There’s a difference.
 
Thank you for your response brother, I appreciate you taking the time to address this issue.

One of the articles I found regarding the Miami Archdioces is here:

lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09020505.html

I have also read about the whistleblowere persecution of a Polish priest assigned to live with a series of practicing homosexual priests.

You are indeed correct and I must be careful as I have no direct knowledge of the situation as I only infrequently visit Miami. However, I have been personally effected by an overzealous bishop cracking down on the LoC. Ironically, I would meet my spiritual director at a Conventual Franciscan friary outside of Baltimore. It was probably one of the most beautiful places of spirituality I have ever been. During this time, I have never felt more holy or closer to God. I blame the liberal/heterodox Bishops for taking this from me. In the spirit of Vatican II they are leaving the faithful flock to the wolves in favor of the mess we read about every day.

I have approched many diocesan priests about spiritual direction, none are interested as they are all too busy. Other than seeing us (more importantly our envelopes) at Sunday mass, we seem to be a bother.

There is a secular Carmelite community not far from me, I had great hope for this group, however, their monthly gathering after mass seemed to be more about gossip and lunch than spiritual growth.
JReducation said:
There are only four congregations of sisters who operate in the Archdiocese of Miami:

Sisters of the Pierced Hearts, Claetian Sisters, Carmelite Discalced Sisters and the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart. Which ones are the godess worshipping nuns? All of them are very faithful and devout women.

Who are the openly gay priests that operate in the Archdiocese? Do you know any by name, who have not been suspended?

The Archdiocese of Miami has a very large Resepct Life Office fully supported by the Archbishop with its own Board of Advisors, its own auxiliary bishop assigned to this ministry, its own Catholic expert on bioethics, who is a priest of the Archdiocese assigned by the bishop, and is run by my religious community. We have 23 brothers in that diocese running five pregnancy centers. We have 121 parishes with a Respect Life Coordinator in each, and a program on chastity education for youth and many other things happening behind the scenes. The Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of Miami operates with the support of the Knights of Columbus, the Archbishop and a 20 Secular Franciscans who were assigned to it for the sole purpose of making sure that the por-life legislation is carefully studied and promoted among the laity. What else whould you like to see the bishop do?

Today, he made sure that every parish hande a copy the the USCCB’s email to every lay adult at every mass in the Archdiocese. This was a command performance that he ordered the pastors to do under obedience in a formal decree made only hours after the USCCB posted it’s email.

And I’m schedule to go down there in November to preach three retreats on the Gospel of Life, in English, Spanish and Creole. This is by invitation of the Archbishop’s Office for Respect Life.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
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