Five men and a woman sued the order in federal court on April 14 and 15, saying they were victims of sexual crimes when they attended schools run by the Legion of Christ in New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The alleged crimes took place in the 1990s when the complainants were children.

A spokesperson for the order said Monday that it was reviewing the complaints.

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Even though it is 10 years since the Vatican ordered the religious order of priests to rid itself of its pedophile founder's toxic influences, the Legion must seek continuous conversion under the guidance of the Church, Francis said.

The Legion's founder, Rev. Marcial Maciel, established the secretive, cult-like order in 1941 to hide his double life.

In this way, he was able to sexually abuse dozens of his seminarians. He also fathered at least three children.

Francis's message encouraged the Legion's 2020 Ordinary General Chapter in Rome to work "energetically in substance, and softly in the means."

"A change of mentality requires a lot of time to assimilate in individuals and in an institution, so it's a continual conversion," Francis said.

"A return to the past would be dangerous and senseless."

"So the journey must continue, looking forward, not backward. You can look back only to find trust in the support of God, who has never failed."

The Legion, which has just completed a nearly six-week-long meeting in Rome to elect new leadership and to discuss handling of abuse, has been the subject of widespread public criticism since it released the order's sex abuse statistics last December.

These statistics show that since the order was founded, 33 priests of the congregation have committed sexual abuse of minors, victimizing 175 children.

Furthermore, despite a Vatican envoy's assurances in 2014 that the Legion had been cleansed of Maciel's influence, new sexual misconduct scandals have called into question whether his mission was really accomplished.

Francis told the Legion's new superiors a "very vast field" of work was needed to correct the order's problems and make it healthy.

The pope praised Legion members for their willingness to accept change and urged them to continue the path of renewal.

The order's new governing council must act as a check on the superiors, Francis said.

Source

• AP News
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Crux Now

She argues her aunt, a devout Catholic, was manipulated into donating tens of millions of dollars during her lifetime and leaving tens of millions more in her will.

However, Rhode Island Supreme Court justices on Tuesday raised questions about the conduct of a disgraced Roman Catholic order, but they also expressed doubts about whether lawsuits can move forward over the money a widow gave to the group. Continue reading

The conservative order's founder, Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado, was a sexual predator, abusing young seminarians and living a double life that included fathering three children by two women from Mexico.

He was dismissed from ministry by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 and died in 2008.

In an article in the National Catholic Reporter, investigative journalist Jason Berry wrote that the order has shifted its fundraising focus to Holy Land pilgrimages.

It has started a major fundraising drive for its Magdala Center at the Sea of Galilee and has raised US$40 million out of its US$100 million target.

The complex, with newly discovered ruins of a synagogue Jesus may have visited, will contain an archaeological park, women's institute, media centre and a luxury hotel the Legion will own.

A booklet intended to promote the new centre, Magdala: God Really Loves Women, shows the posthumous hold Fr Marcial still holds over the order, despite attempts at reform, Berry wrote.

Legionary priest Fr Juan Maria Solana, who heads the Magdala project, wrote the following statement in the booklet.

"Marcial Maciel's initials are also MM, just like Mary Magdalene. She had a problematic past before her deliverance, so there's a parallel. Our world has double standards when it comes to morals. Some people have a formal, public display and then the real life they live behind the scenes.

"But when we accuse someone else and we are quick to stone him, we must remember that we all have problems and defects. With modern communications so out of control, it is easy to kill someone's reputation without even investigating about the truth. We should be quieter and less condemning."

Berry wrote the Legion has had a fire sale of assets elsewhere as donors have dried up.

In 2009, the order admitted Marcial's wrongdoings.

The Legion has yet to receive approval from Pope Francis for reworked constitutions, which were submitted to the Pope months ago.

Commonweal associate editor Mollie Watson O'Reilly wrote that the portrayal of Mary Magdalene as associated with sexual sin is "an error in scriptural interpretation . . . helped along by a misogynistic tendency to associate women with sexual sin".

Mary Magdalene should be seen as the Apostle to the Apostles, the first witness to the Resurrection, she wrote.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Commonweal blog
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

Responding to the 'human damage' caused by the leaders of fourteen new ecclesial (church) communities, President of the France Catholic Bishops' Conference, Bishop Georges Pointer, says the actions of these religious leaders have offended and shocked the bishops.

Bishop Pontier warned against the dangers of generalisation, but acknowledged difficulties with some groups, involving the manipulation of individual consciences.

"The gospel of Christ we want to serve, is a school of spiritual freedom", Bishop Pointer said.

The statement made on behalf of the Conference addresses a range of abuse ranging from depression, sexual abuse, suicide and the "destruction of personalities".

The victims were all involved in new fourteen new ecclesial (church) communities.

Critics of the several new ecclesiastical communities had complained of the "destruction of personalities" by cult-like practices.

Fourteen communities have been cited by the victims, but so far only a small number have been subject to investigation or trial: The Legion of Christ, the Beatitudes community, the Community of St John, and Hearts, have seen formal charges of misconduct lodged primarily against their founders.

In denouncing the human damage, Bishop Pointer is asking all victims in the new church communities not to remain silent but rather to come forward and make a formal complaint.

He promised help and an attentive and listening ear.

Source

• Le Figaro (translation Google)
• Catholic Culture
• Image: Blogspot

"The upcoming extraordinary general chapter comes at the end of a long journey of spiritual renewal and will have as its principle purpose the conclusion of the revising of the constitutions,"
said Cardinal Velasio De Paolis.

Cardinal De Paolis was appointed governor of the Legion in 2010, after its founder, Father Marcel Maciel, was removed from public ministry and an apostolic visitation determined the Legion needed "profound re-evaluation".

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A series of assemblies will redefine the mission and governing structure of the organisations.

These events follow a period of turmoil in the Legion after revelations that its founder, Father Marcel Maciel, lived a double life, sexually abused seminarians and fathering children.

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The documents surfaced in a probate case in Rhode Island, in which Legion officials were accused of defrauding a wealthy widow, Gabrielle Mee, of tens of millions of dollars.

They remained sealed when the suit brought by Mee's niece, Mary Lou Dauray, against the Legion and the Bank of America was dismissed last September. Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein had ruled that Dauray lacked legal standing to bring suit.

The judge's 39-page ruling, however, raised suspicions of fraud by the Legion — whose founder, Father Marcial Maciel, was revealed to have sexual abused seminarians and fathered children by at least two women.

In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI dismissed Father Maciel from ministry to a "life of prayer and penitence".

"The transfer of millions of dollars worth of assets — through will, trust and gifts — from a steadfastly spiritual, elderly woman to her trusted but clandestinely dubious spiritual leaders raises a red flag to this court," the ruling said.

Mee died in 2008, aged 96.

Judge Silverstein released the documents in response to a petition from four media organisations, including the National Catholic Reporter.

Well before the revelations about Father Maciel, Mee entrusted her finances to the Legion. Court documents show that she gave millions of dollars to the Legion and also revised her will, giving 90 per cent of her assets to the Legionaires.

In 2000 she gave the Legion's North American territorial director, Father Anthony Bannon, her power of attorney and appointed him executor of her estate.

The court documents included depositions alleging that the Legion isolated Mee from some relatives and even forbade her from visiting her sister before the sister died.

But the Legion maintained that Mee was independent, strong-willed and happy and was never coerced into anything. The fact she led a less-restrictive life than others in the Legion community where she had an apartment showed she freely gave them her money, it argued.

Sources:

National Catholic Reporter

ABC News

Image: Rhode Island Judiciary

Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, the pontifical delegate supervising the reform, said it is not possible to consider the government, apostolate and administration of the Legion "without also taking the broader reality of Regnum Christi into account".

The cardinal was appointed to oversee the reform after revelations that the Legion's founder, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, had lived a double life, abusing children and fathering a son.

The pontifical delegate's letter follows external criticism of the slow pace of reform of the Legion.

Cardinal De Paolis indicated that both the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi should establish a clear understanding of their respective identities as they prepare to draft new rules of the Legion.

"One could say that we are seeking to elaborate a 'general statute' or a 'fundamental norm', or a 'rule' common to all the members of Regnum Christi, including Legionaries," he wrote.

A central commission in charge of revising the Legion's constitutions will prepare a draft text to "guide the reflection" by members of Regnum Christi and the Legionaries.

This period of reflection will also involve "a historical investigation regarding the origins of the Regnum Christi movement."

While members of the Legion remain committed to the revision of their constitutions, some of their communities want additional time to reflect on "the nature and purpose of the congregation", Cardinal De Paolis said.

The order's particular gift, or "charism", has been called into question due to revelations about the founder's double life.

Meanwhile, as work continues on the revised constitutions, "the life of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi movement continues on", Cardinal De Paolis wrote.

Catholic News Agency

Religion News Service

Image: Whispers in the Loggia