Fr. Arthur Mollenhauer, still LC?

LEGION MAKES PRIESTS BUT CANT KEEP THEM

Cruising Catholic Parishes...
The apple does not fall far from the tree.
Many Legionaries in the diocese of Bridgeport, CT, with bishop Lori -who served his time in the archdiocese of Washington and knows all about Legionaries of Christ. Has Bishop Lori accepted any recently exiting Legion priests?
Other bishops would also be interested in picking up a few good men exiting the Legion during this time of turmoil.
Not sure if Fr Mollenhauer is still using the LC after his name.
Hope he has made a smooth transition to the diocese. Was that fast -he is a pastor?

A Lovely Little Story from Dublin

Friends,
here is a lovely story on the blog of former Dublin Legionary, Padraic Murray; very well and sweetly written. Enjoy!
--

Sunday, December 12, 2010Time for my Brother


Time for my Brother

I never had a brother, but I had hundreds of Brothers. An only child for seven years, I yearned for company to play or even fight with. My sister Kate arrived when I was seven and my sister Margaret when I was ten, and that was that.

At the age of 18 years and three days I joined the Novitiate of the Legion of Christ in Leopardstown, County Dublin. The Seminary was a green building built on land that had been sourced by Archbishop John McQuaid – now a controversial figure in political and ecclesial history, known to my father who was a big fan of the Archbishop who could be quite charming in private. The Legionary Novitiate may be the only green building to my knowledge in all of Ireland. The green tiled building, conceived to ‘blend in’, sticks out like a sore thumb as you drive along the M50 motorway at the Sandyford junction.

In 1969 I joined twenty other young men with a view to serving God in the Mexican Missions. Within an hour of joining we were advised that we should address each other as ‘Brother’. It became natural over the following two years of the Spiritual Formation Course (the Novitiate) to call each other ‘Brother’. So much so that when two of us were sent under cover in mufti on a ‘delicate’ mission to Madrid in 1971 to pretend that we were lay students attending UCD, we found it almost impossible not to call each other ‘Brother’ and once or twice we lapsed.

We lived a life of poverty chastity and obedience. Poverty meant having no possessions of one’s own – literally. We were all assigned jobs, Sacristan, Cook, Medical Officer, Farmer, among others. My favorite job was Receptionist because it entailed spending much of ones time in a little office at the front of the building where I could see all the comings and goings. I got to sleep in a little room beside the reception so as to be able to take phone calls that might sound in the night. This was in the days before phone extensions and mobile phones.

In the years after I left in 1976 I used to claim that my only possession was my watch – which was not strictly true. Stricly I had no watch. The watch I brought to the Seminary was given to young man called Thomas Price – ‘Brother’ Thomas Price – to give him his full religious name. Thomas had the toughest job of all. He was in charge of ‘time’. With the help of my watch he sounded the bell every time a new task was due. He rang the first bell rang at 5.50 am for Morning Prayer, followed at 6.00 for meditation, followed at 7.00 for Mass, followed at 7.30 for breakfast – in silence – and so on.

The Brother in charge of the Bell needed to be punctual and diligent. Thomas Price had those qualities and more. Over the following 41 years nearly all my companions left the Legion of Christ – but because we were never allowed discuss personal matters in the Seminary – our decisions to leave were made alone, without access to colleagues or family. Often when we left, our remaining colleagues were told we had moved 'to Mexico' or to another mission. That is what happened in my case. It was reported that I had left on a top secret mission to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico when in fact I was back in Dublin walking Dollymount Strand.

As a result, having been deprived of communication while inside the Legion, this nearly always continued afterwards – often for years. Many were so traumatized by the Legionary experience they chose not to contact others, no matter how well meaning. Purely by chance, some years ago I learned that Thomas had unsurprisingly left but surprisingly and sadly had died at a very young age. I was shocked and saddened. Thomas had been a gifted footballer. He hailed from the Liberties and I can still see his parents in my mind. Our parents were allowed to visit the seminary twice a year for an afternoon. I have pleasant if black and white memories of their reunions with Thomas from my vantage point in Reception.

Yesterday as I drove around Glenageary roundabout, thirty nine years later I got a call on my mobile phone from a friend in Amnesty International – where I had served as honorary treasurer for three year. In moving premises they had discovered a Bible donated to a Brother Thomas Price, LC (Legion of Christ) on the occasion of the Profession (Promises) in 1971.

Memories flooded back of the red headed Brother Thomas as he made his way along the polished Seminary floors in the early morning and how he glanced at his watch – my watch; memories of him playing football in the field which now houses Bewley's Hotel in Leopardstown, of working with him to harvest potatoes in the autumn of 1970 in the land that is now occupied by Central Park.

Coming up to our first Christmas in the Seminary, in December 1969 Brother Thomas dropped the watch on the marble floors and it smashed into many pieces. So that was the end to the only thing I had in the world. Those two years in Leopardstown and the five following years taught me a very privileged lesson – possessions don’t really matter as long as you have three decent meals a day and a roof over your head. Many in Dublin and in Mexico will not have those luxuries this Christmas.

I have undertaken to try to track down members of the Price family and return the ‘Amnesty’ Bible to the family of my 'Brother' – Thomas Price. So if anyone out there knows of someone related to a wonderful red headed young man (as he was in 1969), hailing from Cork Street in the Liberties, who played a mean game of football and who was never late in his life, just give me a call and we will try and offer the family a small momento and remember a life that, if short, was nevertheless heroic.

PS Best of luck to all in Amnesty who will be moving into new offices over the Christmas Period!

Fr. Anthony Bannon returns in Glory

as one of the Legionaries involved in the



Revision of the Constitutions

Fr Jack, former Legionary, now a pastor in Brasilia

for some, the Legion can be a gateway to a better priesthood

and a healthier life

I find this former legionary priest's testimony very uplifting. Let us pray for him and the other like him who are stepping out of the protection and control of the Legion into the cold winds of the world.

Former LC Fr. Jack Stegnicki in Brasilia

This is the I am leaving the Legion of Christ blogger; seems like a very balanced and nuanced priest...with the courage to leave when he realized what had been going on unknown to him for decades...
=================
Name: Fr Jack Stegnicki

Location: Brasília, DF, Brazil

I am a Catholic priest living in Brazil, formerly a member of the Legionaries of Christ. I am presently in the process of incardination into the Archdiocese of Brasília, and am working in St Pio of Pietrelcina Parish.

Prominent Spanish Legionary and RC Consecrated Lady Sister Leave [Fr. Santiago and Malen Oriol]

from life.after.rc.com

http://www.life-after-rc.com/2010/10/update-from-spain.html

Update from Spain


From Trastevere (and elsewhere):
[J]ust in from the Spanish language Blog El Trastevere (Source: Ex Tipazo)...
One of the pillars of legion in Spain, a major superior and head of the legion school in Madrid, Fr. Santiago Oriol, has publicly announced he is leaving the legion. As some of you might recall, the Oriol family is one of the wealthiest families in Spain, they come from nobility. There are at least 4 Oriol brothers who are (or were) legionaries. Santiago is the oldest and most influential of all. His brother Alfonso, also a legionary, was at the meeting and supported his decision. Most of the Fr. Santiago's community which he heads is following and leaving, too. He has invited the school's parents to reconsider pulling their children out of the school, and said he "doesn't know, love, or trust the legion anymore." A few years ago, the legion tried to force the Oriol brothers (and a 3gf) to surrender to the legion, right then and there, their inheritance. The youngest Oriol legionary wouldn't allow it and Nuestro Fraude himself made his life impossible. From another source I learned that Luis Garza had used the Oriol inheritance money, along with his own and his 3gf's inheritance money, to fund the legion's growth, promising them higher returns on their investment.

One of the Oriol legionaries, by sheer coincidence, once discovered Nuestro Fraude with one of his "families." This priest immediately confronted Nuestro Fraude and went to his superiors. He was hushed, of course, and ordered to say nothing. This was the beginning of the Oriol family's disenchantment with legion. Now, as these pillars of legion/regnum start abandoning ship, things will begin to unravel more quickly. At least for Spain, this is HUGE. Without the Oriol family, there would be no legion/regnum in Spain

In reading the tea leaves, it would seem as though the men are voting with their feet, dePaolis' good intentions notwithstanding...

SIDE NOTE: our combox also includes this curious detail--

Sometime around the early 90s, when legion was starting to grow by leaps and bounds, Luis Garza presented a business plan to some members of his extended family explaining that, given the growth of the Legion, they should invest in it, and that he'd offer them higher than standard returns.

To the money pool he raised from relatives, they added the Oriol's inheritance that the notorious Fr. Guerra, LC (as ordered by Nuestro Fraude) had successfully coerced from the Oriols to bequeath to legion before it was canonically legal or required for them to do so.

Luis Garza was successful in raising this capital and a lot of it has vanished due to the late misfortunes of Nuestro Fraude's empire. So the Oriols, as they leave the Nuestro Fraude's kingdom, will probably be left with NADA -- other than their dignity and decency.

Now that "vanishing" money could simply be the collapse of a Ponzi scheme or the siphoning away of real funds -- financial wizards are toying with the options even now. If everyone could take a deep breath and forget the money, perhaps we would remember the more important human capital. Don't mean to accuse the team of bad priorities (who knows what they're discussing behind closed doors?) but scandal costs more in the long run than real integrity. Surely they know that by now.

UPDATE on the UPDATE: Trastevere blog is reporting that Malen Oriol (the sister of Fr. Santiago) has just left the movement.

October 27, 2010

Is Fr Michael Goodyear still Legionary?

Fr. Michael Goodyear, LC

It is a question which, perhaps, facts can answer

Here is an old posting of Fr Michael G when he was a Legionary in 2007

It is hard to track Fr Goodyear down but he is still signing LC as author of the 10/23/10 homily on Catholic Net
---------------------------------------
From ZoomInfo:
Father Michael Goodyear

Background for Michael Goodyear

Employment History

Newman Center

Notre Dame Preparatory

Arizona State University
------------------------------------
Fr. Michael Goodyear, LC., is the founding and present director/chaplain of the JP II Catholic Newman Center in the Diocese of Phoenix Arizona.
See the web page

An Interesting Follow Up Question:
Does Fr. Micahel live in a Legionary Community?
If not, how does he continue to consider himself a Legionary?
If he does, the blogger must eat the previous question
----
Now, if he continues to be featured on Regnum Christi web page that would seem to confirm that he is an active practicing Legionary of Christ

False Appearances of Holiness VS Trusting in God

a bit behind the curve with Xavier Leger's 2nd part [3rd to follow]

Excerpt:

He went through a full description of those “false appearances of holiness”. He described all the traps of a spirituality based upon appearances. The main problem of those traps is that they “freeze” us in a fixed, one-way life, while the very principle of the Christian life is precisely to be a journey of freedom. He explained to us how those “false appearances of holiness” led us to get fossilized, and, as a result, unresponsive to the actions of the Holy Spirit, which are always uncontrollable ["unpredictable", "unprogrammable", I, the blogger, might say].

------------

From the REGAIN page, Regain Activities, Conference 2002:

Epilogue upon leaving: Monday, 7/1/02 DFW towards Houston on CO flight 141, 9:40 am

The spirituality that guided this trip for me was: IN GOD I TRUST.

I did not have everything planned to the very last detail, as a Legionary would. There were times when I did not know what was going to happen next, what to do. I was almost, but not quite, "flying by the seat of my pants". The team and I were constantly pulled in various directions trying to facilitate the diverse needs, insights, desires, and plans of the other participants and the journalists.But we were united in our effort to stem the tide of deceit, bad faith, manipulation, abuse and power of the Legion of Christ. We were all, like the vast majority of RC men and women and LC priest and student survivors, people of good will who had broken out of a vicious system over which we had no power and which disguises its viciousness behind a benevolent facade.

Xavier Leger, Prominent former French Legionnaire, Talks

Begin his saga on the REGAIN web page "He who would play the angel, acts the beast" [Blaise Pascal]

Eamonn Brosnan, Please Contact us!

The blogger has very fond memories of this former[?] Legionary priest. He was loved and esteemed by his confreres. But we have lost track of him. Eamonn, if you see this give me a shout any way you want, or contact REGAIN, INC through the editor, Giselle Ste Marie.
Hope you are well,
Fondly,
irishmexican43

Missing Legionaries of Christ

When no longer convenient for the cause, Legionary webpages or forums disappear without explanation. The same has happened to the members from time to time.

We are all familiar with the way many Legionaries and Regnum Christi members have departed the organization, "like a thief in the night", while the other members, the 'community', their companions are asleep.

Or members are moved quickly from one country/continent to another, all part of the control and disempowerment strategies created by their "Nuestro Padre", the king of deceit.

Occasionally, a member "disappears off the face of the map" or goes "M.I.A" in such a way that not even his/her family members knows where s/he is

Maciel used the Quintana Roo Mission in the Yucatan Peninsula as a place of exile for dissident members;
 he also sent people to Gabon, such as Jack Keogh can testify
he used Australia as a place to unload "problematic" members
Brazil is the latest place for Legionaries to be put out of sight and slowly disappear into oblivion
The blogger will be calling out for some missing legionaries on this blog, as well as charting the departure of those who wish to 'go public' about leaving the LC/RC

The blogger helps to track missing members from time to time and would like to be able to use this blog for that mission of mercy.

What a sad and shameful aspect of the Legion of Christ!

Leaving the Legion for a Diocese in Brazil

the "Leaving the Legion" priest is on his way to Brazil; he must have worked there as a Legionary and after a period of reflections is leaving the inhospitable Legion superiors for greener pastures

Dear Legionary, How Long are you going to Wait?

Some left a couple of years ago when Maciel died and he lost his grip on the tripulation, his hold on the members loosened, and his cronies tried to batten down the hatches
Some left when Maciel's sordid life was revealed
Some left when they thought the Investigation would take too long or would not be rigorous enough

Some have been placated by Mons De Paolis message to the members in Rome, and have put their leaving on hold

He tells them to hold on to their charism and their vocation.

What charism? The charism bequeated by a totally selfish and self-serving person, full of deceit? A charism to assure the rich that they could get to heaven by helping the Legion?

What vocation? A vocation that was never once properly discerned. It was only reinforced with pseudo-Ignation spiritual exercises and by Spiritual Direction similar to brainwashing

How long will it take to reform the Legion?

Is the Legion worth reforming?

Can a total Narcissist, Marcial Maciel, really found a religious order based on altruistic love?

The Terrible Damage done to Members, according to Catholic Priest

Legionaries Future in the Balance
America magazine online
Comment

Has anyone thought about the damage that has been done to the young men and women who were part of this group? The order has clear signs of a cult mentality. My experiences with people who have been involved with cults is that they are almost permanently damaged. Probably because they are people who are drawn to such extreme groups, they may respond extremely. They could be lost to the Church or harbor deep resentments toward Church authority and structure. That would be a true shame! But what is to be done? Would they ever be able to fit in with typical parochial and diocesan situations? I don't envy Pope Benedict in this. He will need the wisdom of Solomon and then some!


Report comment

Posted By Fr. Charles McDermott
Friday, September 18, 2009 03:54:30 PM

Why Don't (more) People Leave?

The blogger is indebted to Dialogue Ireland for this very helpful report on Why it is So Difficult for People to Leave High Demand Groups. Although this case refers to Scientology, we believe it can be applied, servatis servandis, to the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi Movement which has already been associated to Cults by experts such as I.C.S.A., Steve Hassan, et al.

Please read this article with an open -not cult-like closed- mind to obtain a better understanding of what members go through

I'm Leaving the Legion of Christ [active Priest transitioning to diocesan]

Follow up on the Legionary chronicling his exit from the Legion and transition to diocese

I'm Leaving the Legion of Christ -New Blog of active priest

Just found this solid blog

Part III begins:
Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Why I'm Leaving the Legion of Christ (Part 3)

I love to write, and normally follow a careful process to make it work: rough draft, revision, sentence structure and flow. I didn’t do that here. I just sat down and let it flow, letting Bill Gates take care of the spelling errors. Sorry if it’s sticky reading. Fr Jack.

Read “Why I’m Leaving” Part 1 and Part 2


I have mentioned the frustration that I experience in the legion and how it has been an obstacle to my fulfillment. Everyone needs to feel fulfilled.


Every once in a while, I hit the “Next Blog>>” button on the top of my blog, and most times it brings me to family blogs, photos of babies, husbands and wives. You don’t find blogs extolling the joys of a dysfunctional family, how great it is to be separated or divorced, and what a joy that my child doesn’t have a father. No one willingly wants that – that brings unhappiness.


No one feels happy in something that’s not right. But when the family is working well, where there is true love, you can see how fulfilled they are. Family makes us love. If we don’t love we are miserable. And to love properly you have to be able to express love, affection, kindness, mercy and being forgiven. The dynamic of the family is the dynamic of the Church.


My family for the past 24 years (not my natural family, of course) has been dysfunctional. And that brings frustration. I haven’t been able to express in a healthy way all God has given me and all that he has been asking me to be. There has been a constant wanting to live behind a mask, to be false, to put on a way of being that is not me. I ...

Cults for Normal People -Leaving the Cult is like getting off Heroin

Not all cults are whacko
Some look normal
Some may even look Orthodox

Fr Jonathan Morris, your Fox Commentator Padre, left the Legion of Christ before the Vatican finished its investigation.

Forgive the critical tone in the article below

Given their pathological religiosity and curiously durable naivety, it's no wonder Americans have made their country the world capital of cults. There are now more than 5000 cult groups in the US, their members numbering between 10 million and 15 million. This powerful documentary looks at just one group, the Mountain Rock Church, and the chaos it wreaks in the lives of four families.


Based in South Carolina, the church is run by Pastor Raimund Melz, a whip-thin, German-born preacher who, with his wife Deborah, exerts almost complete control over followers. Melz bills himself as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher, the only source of truth and the sole road to salvation.

But he has also become the centre of his acolytes' temporal world. Having built their homes in the church compound, called The Heritage, church members hand them over to Melz (on orders from the Lord, naturally), from whom they must then rent them back. Emptied out by fear and filled back up with guilt, church members are, in effect, reduced to infantilism, unable to think or act for themselves. “You have to have him [Melz] point out the sin,” former follower Tonya Rogers says, “because you're a dumb baby, you're a dumb sheep . . . so he has to be the one, 'cause he hears from God.”

Breaking away is akin to getting off heroin; a long, wrenchingly painful journey that has been captured artfully by filmmaker Ondi Timoner. (Interestingly, Timoner's 2004 rock'n'roll doco, DiG!, dealt in part with singer Anton Newcombe and the seemingly maniacal control he had over his band members in the Brian Jonestown Massacre.) The film also points out the changing dynamic of cults, from the huge, Moonie-type groups of the 1970s to smaller units led and supported by ostensibly “normal” people.

Fr Scott Aaron, LC, explains Legion Leaving Southern Catholic College

obliged to another blogger, BEING IS GOOD, for this scoop where you will actually see and hear the Padre explain why the Legion is leaving the college.

Fr, a Legionary, speaks as if the Legion were some kind of separate entity from himself...

Fr. Jonathan Morris Leaves [officially]

Father-Jonathan Morris

I’ve discerned I’m not called to dedicate my priesthood to the “profound revision", "purification, and "redefinition” of the Legion of Christ the Holy Father has wisely ordered. Archbishop Dolan has invited me to start the Incardination process into the Archdiocese of New York. I won’t have further comments at this time.

Steve Skojec Slams the Door on Maciel, Regnum and Legion

On his blog this former RC member slams Maciel and other Leaders of  Legion and Regnum

Sample quote:

THE COMPLICITY OF THE LEADERS


The statement also makes a severe and unprecedented judgment of the "system of relationships" constructed around Maciel, of the "silence of the entourage," of the "mechanism of defense" of his disgraceful life.

Writing that "most of the Legionaries were unaware of this life," the statement implicitly affirms that some of them did know about it.

So there will be no indulgence for the "system of power" that closed ranks around Maciel before and after his death, meaning the current central and territorial leaders of the Legion.

In particular, it is completely unrealistic to think that the ax might spare the two supreme leaders, director general Álvaro Corcuera and vicar general Luís Garza Medina.

The latter of these, until now the real man in charge of the Legion from the financial point of view, has done everything possible over the past few weeks to position himself as a new Talleyrand, capable of remaining in the saddle even in the Thermidor, after having supported the Terror.

The Silent Exodus

Perusing Comments to Fr. Owen Kearns "Setting the Record Straight" on the National Catholic Register web one can catch glimpses of people disenchanted with the Regnum Christi and who now repent for being so gullible and so easily taken in by the Legion/Regnum, for not having followed their questioning minds and allowed themselves to doubt.
DOUBT, a no-no for the Man and Woman of the Kingdom, roundly combatted by the Founder from the very beginning, is a healthy sign of life, of the life of the brain, of the questioning and discerning mind.
May we learn to be more Jesus-like in this sense.
Jesus did not lie down and suck up to anyone.
Neither should we

Very few say: My name is X and I am proud to announce that I left the Regnum Christi.
Why the fear, the reticence, the ????

Excellent Blog by French exLC

Well informed and well written [in French] blog by French former LC, Xavier,
helps us to know what is happening on that "front"

"I have decided to pursue my Priesthood Outside the Legion"

[see Douglas Barry's very recent testimony on sister blog "How to Get a Loved One Out of the..."]

In this context, I have decided to seek by means of exclaustration -as you know it is given for three years- to try to exercise my priesthood outside the Legion, because I believe it is not healthy for my priesthood to continue in a system that will take a long time to change, and with which I have encountered no few incompatibilities....

Workshop for people Exiting High Demand Groups

Announcing.. .

Workshop for Former Members of Cults or High-Demand Groups

Special Guest Facilitator: Janja Lalich, Ph.D., former cult member &

author of Take Back Your Life and Bounded Choice

March 13th, 2010 from 1:00 – 5:00 P.M. ­ Mill Valley, CA Location

(In the San Francisco Bay Area)

Fee: $45.00 ­ Participation limited to 20

This is an opportunity to meet and participate with other former members of cults or high-demand groups. Our goal is to provide a safe, respectful environment in which participants may gain mutual support, share perceptions, and learn from each other. We hope to focus on typical post-cult aftereffects and responses, the process of recovery and personal development, strategies and successes for a creating a life of one's own making. While this is not a therapy group, it may be therapeutic.

The session will begin with brief introductions, followed by an open discussion in which participants can expand upon anything previously stated, comment on emerging thoughts and feelings, and address relevant issues.

The facilitators, Colleen Russell and Janja Lalich, expect a lively, interactive, and in-depth exploration of issues raised by participants, such as trust; relationships and communication; healthy group functioning; magical thinking; disconfirming inaccurate, self-limiting beliefs internalized from cult ideologies; boundaries and saying "no"; loss and grief; anger and other emotions; critical-thinking skills; connecting to society-at-large; self-acceptance; post-traumatic stress; family of origin issues; personal accomplishments and goals.

Colleen Russell, L.M.F.T., is an experienced psychotherapist and a Certified Group Psychotherapist. In the 1970s she was a "higher initiate" and area representative of an Eastern/New Age cult. Ms. Russell facilitates an on-going group for former members, now in its eighth year, and she endeavors to support healthy as opposed to cultic group functioning and dynamics. In addition to her general therapy practice with individuals, couples, and families, she specializes in cult education and recovery.

Janja Lalich, Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology at California State, University, Chico. In the 1970s and '80s she was a high-ranking member of a San Francisco-based political cult. Since leaving the cult in 1986, Dr. Lalich has become one of the nation's leading experts on cult phenomena, including cult indoctrination and its effects and recovery from such experiences. In addition to her own works, she coauthored two books with the late Dr. Margaret Singer. Dr. Lalich facilitated former member support groups for many years in the San Francisco Bay Area and has worked with many individuals and families affected by cults.

Location of Workshop: The setting for the workshop is in the apartment above Ms. Russell's Mill Valley office, a comfortable environment with expansive views of the Redwood-covered ridge. Refreshments will be provided.

Call with any questions and to register: Colleen Russell, 415.383.7721. If you are planning to attend, registration fee must be received by March 6th, 2010.

"The Day I Left the Legion of Christ"

For now this Testimony on exlc.info is in French

[Rough translation]

That day, although it had been preceded by a month of spiritual crisis,  everything happened suddenly. A discreet jump into the town center one afternoon with one of them looking for some clothes. Then everything happened with the greatest discretion, so that, according to the tradition in these cases, my little personal drama would not perturb the fidelity of the others.


At that moment, I was careful not to be seen "in civvies" and I furtively went down the service stairs heading for the airport. My two superiors were waiting for me in the garage. After a furtive trip to Mc Donalds to relax the tension, it was time to leave, a new life was beginning.


The time would come when my confreres would realize I was not there and the hackneyed formulas would fill the gap: "se fue", he left, or "ya no esta", he is no longer here, or "no era su camino", it was not his path!. These practical phrases stopped any further discussion of the issue if questions arose about my disappearance.

[Original text, first part]

« Un récit bien triste...

Le jour où je suis sorti de la Légion

Par Xavier le mercredi 3 février 2010, - Témoignages - Lien permanent

Ce jour là, bien que préparé à l’événement par des mois de crise spirituelle, tout va très vite. Un saut discret au centre ville une après-midi pour quelques courses vestimentaires avec l’un d’entre eux. Puis tout se passe dans la discrétion la plus totale, pour que, comme la tradition l’a établi dans ces cas là à la Légion, mon petit drame personnel ne vienne pas perturber la fidélité des autres.

Pour le moment, je prends garde de ne pas être vu ‘en civil’ et je descends furtivement les escaliers de service, direction l’aéroport. Mes deux supérieurs m’attendent au garage. Après un passage furtif au Macdonald histoire de décrisper l’atmosphère, c’est le départ, une nouvelle vie commence.

Le moment viendra bien où mes frères de communauté s’en rendront compte et je sais déjà que les formules toutes faites colmateront la brèche: « ¡se fue! » (il est parti!) ou « ¡ya no esta! ») « il n’est plus là! » ou encore (« ¡no era su camino! ») « ce n’était pas son chemin! ». Ces phrases pratiques permettront de ne pas aller plus loin sur la question si des interrogations surgissent à mon sujet.

Olga, 3gf Consecrated, leaves after 15 years!

Although not a native French speaker Olga bid adieu with a message in that language which we are translating.
-------------------------------
Olga, a witness after 15 years of consecrated life
[rough translation by anonymous]

As you will have already learned, I also left the consecrated life after 15 years, 7 of them in Paris. My departure took place at the proper time, and in a most completely providential manner.( I see that now). My experience was not like yours. I must say in fairness to the movement, that I left in peace, in discernment made with much wisdom, together with a lay Chilean psychologist, and the proper conscrated director ( to whom I am very thankful) forbid me to speak with her [the female director] and IT IS SHE WHO RECOMMENDED THE PSYCHOLOGOST SO SHE NOT TO INFLUENCE ME AND TO ALLOW ME TOTAL FREEDOM. I left in December 2005 and here I am married and very happy!!! The reason for my departure was not the problem with MACIEL, WHO WAS STILL IN THE SHADOWS,but an existential and personal aspect which always troubled me

I wanted to leave here however humbly my little testimony because I received a lot from the Legion and from the movement since age 13 and I was lucky never to have seen the behavior of “Maciel’s type” in any LC or consecrated person that I knew, but that didn’t stop me from asking since I found out the news, that I asked everyone: Father Alvaro, Maleny, Malen,the truth and nothing but the truth, clarity, firmness, the immediate request for forgivness of the victims, and that I received not one single personal response to any of my correspondance.. No problem. I will continue to write and ask for clarity, honesty,  truthfulness ESPECIALLY WITH THE CONSECRATED MEMBERS AND LEGIONARIES STILL INSIDE!!!  And THAT I FEEL THAT IN THE CASE OF THE MEMBERS AND LEGIONARIES WHO ARE STILL INSIDE AND ABOVE ALL IN THE CASE OF A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL ON THE MOON, AS IF NOTHING HAS HAPPENED..because no one lets them know!!! Let us continue to write each other. Thank you in the peace of Holy Spirit and of the Holy Virgin

Please excuse the spelling mistakes, especially accents. With a Spanish keyboard it takes me hours.

My marvelous memories of France and the French. See you soon.!!
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[Original Testimony]
Comme tu le sauras deja j ai quittee moi aussi la vie consacree apres 15 ans ,
dont 7 à Paris. Ma sortie a eu lieu juste au moment qu'il fallait et comme il fallait de façon complètement (je le vois maintenant) providentielle. Mon experience n'a pas ete comme la tienne, je dois dire par justice envers le mouvement, que je suis sortie dans la paix, dans en discernement fait avec bp de sagesse, accopagnee par une psicologue chilienne laique, et la propre directirce consacree (envers la quelle je suis tres reconnaisante) m'a empechè de parler avec elle mème et C'EST ELLE QUI MA RECOMANDE LA PSICOLOGUE POUR NE PAS M'INFLUENCER ET ME LAISSER EN TOTALE LIBERTE. Je suis sorti en Decembre 2005 et me voila marié et tres heureuse!!!...la raison de ma sortie n'a pas ete le probleme du MACIEL, QUI ETE ENCORE DANS L'OMBRE, mais un aspect existentielle et plus intime qui me tracassé depuis tjs.

Je voulais quand meme laisser ici humblement mon petit temoignage car j'ai reçu bp de la Legion et du mouvement depuis que j'ai 13 ans, j'ai eu la chance de ne pas avoir vu un comportement du genre "Maciel"de la part d'aucun lc, ni consacree que j'ai connue, mais cela n'empeche que depuis que j'ai apris la nouvelle j'ai demandè de tous , P. Alvaro, Maleny, Malen ...la veritè et rien que la veritè, la clartè, la fermetè, la demande de pardon inmediate aux victimes et que je n'ai reçu auncune reponse personelle a aucuns de ces mails, ce n'est pas grave je continuerais a ecrire a appeller a demander clarte, honete, veracite...SURTOUT AVEC LES MEMBRES CONSACREES ET LEGIONAIRES QUI SONT ENCORE DEDANS!!! ET QUE JE SENT,DANS LE CAS DES BPS, VIVENT UN PEU DANS LA LUNE COMME SI RIEN NE C ETAIT PASSE, parce que on ne les informe pas!!!...on continuera á s'ecrire...MERCI ENCORE dans la paix de L'esprit Saint et de la Sainte Vierge...

Pardon pour les fautes d'ortographe, surtout les accents, avec le clavier espagnol je mets des heures...

Mes souvenirs tjs merveilleux de la France et des français!! à bientot!!

Pretty Amazing Grace can save you, Departing Legionary! There is Jesus, Father and Spirit after the Legion/Regnum!

With sincere affection and brotherly support I want to dedicate this song to exiting and exited members of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi.

Maybe its a bit corny but let the music and the lyrics take you to another kind of Encounter with Christ

Fr. Richard Gill, LC, is leaving

I’m leaving more because the manner in which the Legion has handled the revelations since the Vatican took action against Fr. Maciel in 2006 has left me often frustrated and totally distracted.

[Text of Fr. Gill, LC's farewell letter]

Dear Regnum Christi Friends,

With my greetings for a very happy New Year for 2010 and assurance of my continued prayers and Masses for you and your families, I have some news to pass on to you. 

I’m writing to inform you that after 29 years, I will be leaving the Legionaries of Christ and will apply to become a priest of the Archdiocese of New York.

I leave with a heavy heart and as you can imagine, it is a very sad experience for me. But after long conversations and correspondence with superiors, and after having consulted with prudent and widely respected priests, I believe in my conscience it is the right thing to do.

The news of the various scandals regarding Fr. Maciel was truly shocking and horrendous for us and the whole the Church.  In dealing with them I have tried my best to be honest and candid whenever I have spoken to you all about them and never knowingly misled anyone. I have believed that a rigorously honest approach to this terrible series of events was the only way to proceed.  Furthermore, I felt that if done so, and counting on the help of the Holy See, it could even lead to true healing and renewal for the Legion and the Movement, even in spite of the truly serious questions it raises about the charism of the congregation.

I’m leaving more because the manner in which the Legion has handled the revelations since the Vatican took action against Fr. Maciel in 2006 has left me often frustrated and totally distracted. 

I’ve tried my best to communicate with the superiors over this past year, and they have been gracious and generous taking the time to listen. I believe I have had the opportunity to get my point of view across to them.

I have participated extensively in the Apostolic Visitation and gave my best input to Abp. Chaput on multiple occasions.  He has been gracious, fair and objective.   I feel I have done all I can in that regard. 

My conclusion is that the reforms needed in the Legion (which the scandals have made clear) simply won’t happen in the foreseeable future with the current leadership’s approach to the matter.

I hope and pray the Apostolic Visitation somehow does bring about the needed changes, and remain ready to do whatever I can to help.  But anything the Holy See can do depends also on the willingness of the Legion to examine itself and work on its own problems.  Even in the most optimistic of scenarios, reform will take a great deal of time and will continue to be a very absorbing and frustrating experience.  I don’t want to live my priesthood in frustration, but serve the Church as best I can in another capacity.

Nothing I have said should be understood to take away in the least the gratitude I feel for all the good I have received from the Legion over these many years. There are so many things about the Legion and the Movement that are extraordinarily unique and wonderful.   It has been a privilege to serve among so many talented and holy brothers and priests, who have treated me with such kindness and charity.  There are so many treasured memories and many fruitful apostolic works I have had the privilege to be associated with, as well as generous and loving lay people who have always edified me with their example of faith and love.  Those are true blessings from God for which I will always be grateful. 

I hope to keep in touch and I encourage you all to continue in your own vocation, attentive to the Holy Spirit and growing every day in love for the Lord and his will in your life.  I will have you and your families very close in my prayers and Masses.

 Please let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you. 

                                               Sincerely in Christ,

                                               Fr. Richard Gill

[3] Song of Departing Legionary

Love on the rocks

Love on the rocks

Ain't no surprise

Pour me a drink

And I'll tell you some lies

Got nothin' to lose

So you just sing the blues all the time

Gave you my heart

Gave you my soul

You left me alone here

With nothing to hold

Yesterday's gone

Now all I want is a smile



First, they say they want you

How they really need you

Suddenly you find you're out there

Walking in a storm

When they know they have you

Then they really have you

Nothing you can do or say

You've got to leave, just get away

We all know the song



You need what you need

You can say what you want

Not much you can do

When the feeling is gone

May be blue skies above

But it's cold when you love's on the rocks

First, they say they want you

How they really need you

Suddenly you find you're out there

Walking in a storm

When they know they have you

Then they really have you

Nothing you can do or say

You've got to leave, just get away

We all know the song