EXITING LEGIONARY PRIEST MAKES SERIOUS ACCUSATIONS
ABOUT HIS DISMISSAL AND AGAINST HIS SUPERIORS’
ACTIONS.
(Editors: This message was emailed to a friend of Fr.
Pérez who pasted it on Facebook. Without taking sides in this controversy, it is published as a testimony written by a priest who served the Catholic Church
in the Legion of Christ for 38 years. Translated literally from the original Spanish
by staff. Clarifications for the wider
or English speaking public have been added in parentheses.)
Mexico City, 25 September, 2012
To: Fr. Alvaro Corcuera, LC.
General Director of the Congregation of the
Legionaries of Christ.
CC.
Cardinal Velasio de Paolis, Apostolic Delegate
Cc Fr. Rodolfo Mayagoitia, LC, Provincial Superior
In accordance with ## 691 and 693 of Canon Law I am requesting
my official release (indult) from the Congregation of the Legion of Christ.
I have spoken with Monsignor Raul Vera, Bishop of
Saltillo, and he is willing to incardinate (accept) me into my native diocese.
AMONG THE SERIOUS REASONS PROMPTING ME TO LEAVE THE
CONGREGATION ARE THE FOLLOWING:
My disappointment for the reform of the Congregation
(order): the changes are cosmetic and do not modify the way authority is
exercised; there continues to be a lack of dialog; the institution’s well-being
continues to over-ride respect for basic human rights of the Children of God.
A classic example of this lack of respect was he decision
taken by Bishop Pedro Pablo Elizondo Cárdenas, LC, who in agreement with Legion
superiors, without any one of them discussing it with me, decided to expel me
from the Prelature of Cancun-Chetumal (Quintana Roo state, Mexico). In this
case, the bishop and the LC superiors involved, besides disdaining my apostolic
work, have totally ignored the wishes of the parish faithful. Worse still, it
is common knowledge that Bishop Elizondo acted in collusion with the mayor of
Playa del Carmen town, Filiberto Martínez Méndez, who offered to reward the
Prelature for my exile from Quintana Roo.
I also see no congruence between the Life of Christ
and the life of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ who are so
focused on money, power, and fame, something I described in the letter
addressed on September 24th, 2012, to Mons. Pedro Pablo Elizondo Cárdenas, LC,
bishop of the Cancun-Chetumal Prelature.
I want to declare categorically that Legion Bishop
Pedro Pablo Elizondo Cárdenas and other Legionary priests have told many people
that I am an alcoholic, am a neurotic, and need psychiatric help; they even say
I used drugs to be able to carry out my apostolic duties in the torrid climate
of Playa del Carmen. I have in my possession a medical certificate from
psychiatrist Jorge Polanco Benois which testifies to my mental health. I also
have the results of a drug and blood test from the Playa del Carmen Red Cross
which testify to my good health.
I joined the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ
in the summer of 1974. After 38 years I am requesting that on leaving the
congregation my grandparents’ and mother’s home at Calle de Victoria 770 in
downtown Saltillo, Coahuila State, be returned to me. I also hope that after
such lengthy service of the Church in the Legion of Christ the superiors cover
the cost of my medical insurance and other expenses of a person nearing his 60th
year.
For now that is all. In the hope that God writes
straight on crooked lines, I place myself under the protection of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, as I begin a new stage in my life at the service of my neighbor
and the Holy Catholic Church.
Your servant in Christ Priest,
Pablo Pérez Guajardo.
I delivered a hard copy of this
document to the Territorial (Provincial) Headquarters in Mexico City, both
pages signed by me and sealed with my finger prints, being received by Brother
Estanislao. I do not possess a scanner. As
soon as I have one I will scan the document with the signature and received
stamp as proof that the hard copy and email versions are identical
