My little brother is a Legionary, and I have been following all this with great interest over the years. The facts known are that around 20-30 years ago a group of maybe 10 former Legionaries came forward to say that they had been abused by Fr. Maciel in the 1950’s whiile seminarians. They had previously accused Fr. Maciel of drug abuse and other things than sexual abuse, but a Vatican investigation found no evidence to support their claims. The sexual abuse allegations came much later, and further investigation could neither substantiate or disprove them. One of the accusers supposedly recanted shortly before his death, but the others remain steadfast. The Legion stood behind Fr. Maciel and repeatedly denied the allegations.
the Legion did recently announce that DNA tests proved that Fr. Maciel fathered a daughter who is now in her twenties. Fr. Maciel would have been in his 60’s at the time. I beelieve the Legion also admitted they had found financial discrepancies. One respected Legionary priest was quoted as saying that this revelation seems to make the other allegations of sexual abuse much more credible. There are some rumors on the internet that the mother of the girl was only 15 at the time, but there is nothing official on that because the Legion says that they can’t reveal more information without violating the girl’s privacy.
The former chief financial officer of the Legion has been quoted as saying that Fr. Maciel had a habit of taking around $10,000 cash and “disappearing” for weeks at a time. Many Legionaries, who admittedly revered him as saintly, assumed he was off doing charitable works, and they did indeed get frequent feedback from people who were grateful that Fr. Maciel had paid their hospital bill, or helped them buy a much needed item, etc.
There are a few other accusations of sexual abuse by some older Legionary priests who would have been in one of the first “classes” of Legionary priests in the 60’s. But on the whole, from what I can tell, accusations of pedophilia or other sexual abuse of seminarians, etc. are fairly limited, especially when compared to Diocesan priests or other orders. There are a myriad of other complaints against the Legionaries, mostly pertaining to aggressive fundraising, an “uncaring” attitude towards those seminarians who leave the order, and “acting cultish”. I find these accusations not containing a lot of substance or detail, and much of it could be explained as “sour grapes”. But I’m sure that, as with any organization, there are certainly overzealous and sinful individuals.
My personal experience with the Legion is that there is an abundance of idealism, spiritual zeal, and holiness like I’ve never seen in a large group of young men. They do take two extra “private” vows, as do many orders. One is a vow of humility, to never seek for themselves or others positions of authority. The other is a vow of charity, to never speak uncharitably of another person or fellow Legionary. This last one has been heavily criticized as many take it to be a means of manipulating the young men in the order to keep abuses from coming to light. But if you ask any Legionary, they understand the vow to mean going strailght to the person you have a problem with and working to resolve the issue with them, rather than talking about them behind their back. And I have to say every Legionary I have ever met has taken great pains not to speak ill of any other person. We all should practice this kind of charity.
When my brother joined some 15 years ago, he was impressed by the fact that the order was so orthodox and strict. They were trying to correct the abuses they had seen and heard about in other seminaries, and were also going to great efforts to form good and holy priests. For instance, they all remain fully clothed at all tmes, wearing full pajamas to bed, never taking their shirts off while playing sports, etc., showering and sleeping in privacy. They typically require 12-14 years of formation prior to ordination. They are highly educated. Their charism is to evangelize the culture, therefor they seem to target the media and those in positions of authority and influence…
I don’t know what went on with Fr. Maciel, but he couldn’t have been rotten to the core, because he somehow had such good vision to bring forth such good and holy priests as I have met. My brother had visited oru local Diocesan seminary, and had considered other orders, and was feeling somewhat despondent about lack of idealism and spirituality in these places. As he has said, for him, it had to be all or nothing with his vocation. When he visited the Legionaries, he was so excilted and energized that he had finally found what he was looking for and where he felt God wanted him to be. I have to wonder if mental illness played a role with Fr. Maciel. He was certainly able to write and teach with such holy insight, and his efforts brought forth such good fruit. I hope and pray that the Legion is able to beg forgivenss from anyone who sufferd at his hands, or the hands of anyone else associated with the Legion, and that they can find their way and keep their mission alive.
When considering all the criticisms out there regarding the Legion, keep in mind that the order demands a very strict, pure and holy way of life for it’s members. I suspect this often results in much defensiveness from those who have tried and failed in that lifestyle. All I know for sure is that Satan would like nothing better than to see this group disintegrate and dessemble as so many critics are calling for.
