Sandro Magister, a Rome-based Vaticanista, published an essay today on his blog, “Maciel’s Ghost Still Haunts the Castle” talking about the levels of challenge the Legionaries of Christ face, not least is the cult of personality of their founder, the late Father Marciel Maciel. Mr. Magister also includes a recently written letter of a priest of the Legion, Father Peter Byrne, LC, who exposes some of the dark side of his congregation. The anguish of this priest is well communicated.
As I mentioned previously, this is not a matter to rejoice in, but a responsibility we all share in with the building of the Kingdom of God. We ought to beg the Holy Spirit for the grace of conversion and renewal for the members of the Legion of Christ, particularly the novices and the seminarians, not to mention we ought to remember in prayer Archbishop De Paolis, CS, who is faced with making some rather difficult changes. It is possible for an old man to be reborn but it’s painful, especially without being sustained by the Spirit.