(CORRECTION)The Real Stories of Two Legion Founders Passing Away: Javier Orozco Camarena and Gregorio Lopez

A former Legionary and friend  told the blogger of the passing of two of the Legion of Christ "co-founders"

As usual  their passing  may be greeted with glowing testimonials on the LC official pages which will almost elevate these two co- founders to the altars. Fr. Orozco loved German Shephard dogs so it is appropriate that he should be pictured with one.


Apparently a book has been written about the Legionary, Fr. Gregory:




Book Title: Father Gregorio, A Legionary's  Life of Surrender (a key word in LC/RC vocabulary;  "A Life Offered Up" "A Life in Oblation")   The blogger does not doubt that anyone associated with Malignant Narcissist Maciel would have suffered a lot.



Here is some of the nitty-gritty reality.

Fr Gregorio, Spaniard,  the older; he seems to have been almost the same age as the young Maciel who recruited him  in Comillas in the 1940s, a Jesuit-run seminary in the province of Santander, Northern Spain.

HONEST TESTIMONY OF ONE OF FR, GREGORIO'S COMPANIONS, J.A.P.O.. WHO IS NO FRIEND OF THE LEGION:

Por mi experiencia te puedo decir, digan lo que digan, que era una hombre de pro, gran compañero y que nunca se plegó a las amenazas o chantajes del P. Maciel.
Varias veces, enfrente de nosotros, cuando estábamos de prefectos en el Instituto Cumbres, se le enfrentó con valentía y...no pasó nada a pesar de las amenazas que dirigió Maciel. Para mí fue un buen sacerdote y excelente compañero.

(From my experience I can say, no matter what other may opine, that he was a decent man, a great companion and one who never gave in to Maciel's threats or blackmail. Several times, when we were Prefects of Discipline at the the Instituto Cumbres,  he bravely confronted Maciel...and nothing ever happened to him despite Maciel's threats. For me, he was a good priest and an excellent companion.)


 He was the principal of Legion schools for most of his career and was well known and well liked by the students from the upper classes that he supervised.
He was also well liked by the parents. He delivered spiritual talks to the rich ladies from Lomas de Chapultepec where the Legion's seminal Instituto Cumbres was located; together with Fr. Alfonso Samaniego and Faustino Pardo, R.I.P,  he laid the foundation for what would eventually become the Women's Section of the Regnum Christi Movement.

 Gregorio was often put down in front of the Legion community by Maciel for his lack of etiquette and good manners -a quality that pseudo-aristocrat Maciel highly prized. As he got older good Fr. Gregorio was reduced to celebrating marriages and funerals for the rich and famous. He was relegated to a community of senior priests on Ahumada Villagran in Polanco, Mexico DF where he would not be in the forefront of the conquering Legion forces and PR efforts.
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Javier Orozco, a Mexican, was from a later generation, being ordained in the 60s. Apparently he was one of Maciel's favorites, at least for a while, and was given many posts as superior and "formator" during his Legion career. It would appear that for unknown reasons at one point Maciel shafted him to Quintana Roo Missions. For several years he was  pastor ,"the Patriarch of Cozumel." He built a beautiful church there with local materials from Mass offerings and possibly with donations from some of his personal benefactors. (In the early years, Legionaries were encouraged by Maciel to have personal benefactors, rather benefactresses, to provide financial support for their studies. Some of these ladies were very rich and contributed large amounts to the expanding and ever ambitious and obsessive controller, Nuestro Padre Maciel). It could be that Javier kept some of these benefactresses to help him with his apostolic endeavors -something that Maciel would never have allowed as he wanted to have all the financial reins in his hands. Would this be one of the reasons Javier was shafted?

Read on about the intrigues of the Legion of Christ, their con-man founder and his merry band of thieves..

As regards these two Maciel victims,  MAY THEY REST IN PEACE; QUE DESCANSEN EN PAZ

Legionary Priest, Brian Fagan, RIP

an active LC once in power under the Master of the Game has shared with us the sad news of the passing of a dear Legionary of Christ, Dublin born Fr. Brian Fagan who joined the Legion in the late 60s. He would have been in his mid 60s. He had been ill for some time in a nursing home in Mexico City and died of a massive heart attack. I imagine the LC and RC will feature this gentle man on their web pages. He had devoted his whole life to the service of the Legion, the Church and the Salvation of Souls. R.I.P.

On Fr. Robles Gil and the Chapter; former LC now diocesan priest's blog

Fr. Eduardo Robles Gil in photo op with Pope Francis

 

                                 
Here is link to Fr. John's latest posting on his blog

His experience with Fr. Robles Gil as his superior in Brazil:

Thursday, February 6, 2014

How I knew Fr Eduardo Robles-Gil

In 2002, after the World Youth Day in Toronto, I was sent to Rio de Janeiro as assistant to the Vocational Director, Fr Eduardo Robles-Gil, who was also the superior of the community at that time.

Previously, I had been living a period or exile, stripped of all apostolic activity, in Cheshire, CT. That period lasted two years.

I willingly went to Brazil to show my superiors I wasn’t a defective cog in the machinery. I hadn’t yet come to the conclusion that the machinery itself was defective. So I got right into the work (first of all, learning Portuguese) with all my heart.

Fr Eduardo was supportive, encouraging, and in my opinion, sincere. He immediately confided in me and gave me an active part in his vocational work. I had done vocational work in the States from 1995-1996, so it wasn’t new to me.

I learned a lot from Fr Eduardo, much of which I still use today.

Unfortunately, he was bound to obey his superiors, and Fr Maciel as General Director. 

Before he left Brazil in 2004, he began to question me in spiritual direction about my vocation, why I hadn’t left yet knowing that Fr Maciel had already determined I had no future in the Legion. My torment began all over again.

Now, I want to be absolutely fair. I know that Fr Eduardo grew up in an LC school, was Ecyd, RC and all that. I know that he was a consecrated member of the Regnum Christi along with Fr Luis Graza, Alvaro Corcuera and Florencio Sanchez, and entered the Novitiate of the Legion of Christ with them. I know that he was and LC insider, part of the club of superiors with all the perks. But, again, I want to be fair:

I DON’T KNOW WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON IN HIS HEART THESE PAST SIX YEARS!

Nor do I know what is happening in the hearts of so many other legionaries, those in the General Chapter and those who sent them there. There hasn’t been much communication by the legionaries these past few years, which has only led to a lot of speculation, harsh criticisms and a general sense that nothing productive is being done. I too have been suspicious of them and have written critically.

But, I want to be fair, and I believe Fr Eduardo wants to be fair. I am avoiding jumping to rash conclusions now that a new team of superiors has been elected and the General Chapter will be coming to a close. I do not want to judge based on what little I know. I only ask that the Legion begin a new era of transparency, honesty and justice.  

New General Director and Path of Renewal

The Legionaries of Christ announced today that they have a new General Director. They also published a Communiqué regarding Fr Marcial Maciel, an apology to victims, and their path to renewal.

Here is a run-down of the entire outcome of the election:

-       General Director: Fr. Eduardo Robles Gil, LC. 

-       Vicar General: Fr. Juan José Arrieta, LC.

-       General Councilor: Fr. Sylvester Heereman, LC. 

-       General Councilor: Fr. Jesús Villagrasa, LC. 

-       General Councilor: Fr. Juan Sabadell, LC.

-       General Administrator: Fr. José Gerardo Cárdenas, LC. 

-       General Procurator: Fr. Clemens Gutberlet, LC. 

Fr. Thomas Williams, LC, to Wed Daughter of Mary Ann Glendon, Legion supporter and Vatican advisor

It has finally been made public what many in the Legion-watch world had suspected but had not revealed out of respect for the mother and the child

Disgraced priest to wed pope adviser's daughter

By NICOLE WINFIELD1 hour ago

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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Thomas Williams, the onetime public face of the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order who left the priesthood after admitting he fathered a child, is getting married this weekend to the child's mother, The Associated Press has learned. The bride is the daughter of former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Mary Ann Glendon, one of Pope Francis' top advisers.

Glendon, a Harvard University law professor, is one of the highest-ranking women at the Vatican as president of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences. She is also one of five people on Francis' commission to reform the scandal-marred Vatican bank. Her daughter, Elizabeth Lev, is a Rome-based art historian and columnist for the Legion-run Zenit news agency, which Williams published for over a decade while he was in the order.

Williams, a moral theologian, author, lecturer and U.S. television personality, admitted last year that he had fathered a child several years earlier.

At the time, Williams apologized for "this grave transgression" against his vows of celibacy and said he had stayed on as a priest because he hoped to move beyond "this sin in my past" to do good work for the church. The Legion's retired superior later admitted he had learned about the child in 2005 but allowed Williams to keep teaching and preaching about morality.

After taking a year off for reflection, Williams left the priesthood in May to care for his son. According to their wedding registry, he and Lev are due to marry on Saturday in the United States.

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FILE - In this Feb. 29, 2008 file photo released by the Vatican's L'Osservatore Romano newsp …

Asked for comment Thursday, Lev confirmed the wedding plans in an email, adding: "We have no intention of ever discussing our personal life in this forum."

She had initially denied an intimate relationship with Williams, though they frequently appeared together in American circles in Rome, particularly with visiting U.S. student and Catholic tour groups.

Their wedding closes a circle of sorts, even as it raises some uncomfortable questions: Who beyond Williams' superior in the church knew about the child while the couple tried to cover it up? Was Williams already in a relationship with Lev when she became a regular contributor to the magazine he published? And did the family ties to Williams influence Glendon in her defense of the Legion and its disgraced founder despite credible reports that the founder was a pedophile?

The questions swirled Thursday as the Legion dropped a bombshell of its own, admitting that a superior who was in charge of the bulk of its American priests-in-training for over a decade sexually abused a minor at the Legion's novitiate in Cheshire, Connecticut. The Legion said a second accuser had also come forward with an allegation against the Rev. William Izquierdo, who was novice director at the Cheshire school from 1982-1994 and in Ireland before then. Izquierdo, now 85, has dementia.

The saga of the Legion of Christ represents one of the most egregious examples of how the Vatican ignored decades of reports about sexually abusive priests as church leaders put the interests of the institution above those of the victims.

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FILE -- In this 2011 file picture, Father Thomas Williams gestures during a meeting in Rome. Thomas  …

The Rev. Marcial Maciel founded the cult-like Legion in 1941 in Mexico and oversaw its growth into a large and prominent congregation despite credible reports that he was a drug addict and child molester. After Maciel's death in 2008, the Legion admitted that he fathered three children and sexually abused his seminarians.

In 2010, the Vatican took over the order and a papal delegate has been overseeing a reform and "purification." In January, the Legion will elect a new leadership and approve a new set of constitutions.

The Legion scandal has been particularly damaging to the Vatican because Maciel was held up by Pope John Paul II and his cardinals as a model for the faithful, with the order admired for its orthodoxy and ability to bring in money and new priests.

Like all Legion priests, Williams had been a staunch defender of Maciel. When Maciel's double life became public in 2009, Williams told the Catholic ETWN program that the revelations were a "very, very hard blow to all of us."

Until he left active ministry, Williams was the most publicly prominent priest in the 950-strong order. He is the author of such books as 2008's "Knowing Right From Wrong: A Christian Guide to Conscience," and was a commentator for the U.S. broadcaster CBS. He was the superior of the Legion's general directorate in Rome in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The Legion's revelation about a senior cleric having abused a novitiate was contained in a report on the steps the Legion has taken to address sexually abusive clergy within its ranks and respond to the victims of Maciel. According to the report by the Legion's superior, the Rev. Sylvester Heerman, 35 priests have been accused of sexually abusing minors; nine were found guilty and 14 were acquitted in a church trial. Two had left the priesthood when the allegations were made, so no church sanctions could be imposed, and 10 cases are still under review. In addition, two Legion superiors were found guilty of sexually abusing adults under their case and three were acquitted.

The Legion said the numbers indicate that less than 1 percent of the 1,133 priests ordained in the 72-year history of the order had been found guilty by a church trial of abuse, and less than 4 percent had been abused. A Legion spokesman said he didn't know what the percentage was for the current number of Legion priests.

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Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Letter of Fr. Cathal Daly re Atlanta Exodus of 3 Prominent Legionaries of Christ

Thy Kingdom Come!


Dear Regnum Christi Members in Atlanta,

As we begin summer vacation, I would like to take this opportunity to give you an update on important developments within the Legionaries of Christ community in the Atlanta area. As we near the celebration of the Ascension of the Lord, I would like to highlight a fundamental truth of our faith: God’s Providential love for us. We are in His hands. We are under His providential care. And we are all being led by Him in mysterious ways to fulfill our lives as sons and daughters of God, created in His image.

First of all, you may have heard about three Legionaries who have been serving in Atlanta who have asked for time to discern their possible future in the diocesan priesthood. They are Fr Paul Moreau, Fr Todd Belardi and Fr John Donahue. As Superior of the Spalding community where they resided, I want to make sure you are aware of their decisions.

We have offered our full support to our brothers as they have each discerned their future in the Legion during this past year. As Fr Paul Moreau wrote in his recent letter to all of you, he will remain in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Fr Todd Belardi will return to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee where he and his family are from. Fr John Donahue will be doing the same, residing in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

While I am sad to see these fine men leave our community, I am truly happy for them, because they are discerning their futures in a spirit of prayer, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Along with all Legionaries, I thank them for their dedicated work throughout the years. They are great priests. They are our brothers in Christ. We will continue to pray for them and support them in every way possible.

Second, and in anticipation of concerns you may have regarding our work in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, I assure you that we will continue to provide our priestly support in Atlanta. Legionary priests will arrive to fill the vacancies left by the priests who are departing and the other Legionaries currently working in Atlanta will remain. If there are changes in this regard I will let you know.

Third, I give my own testimony that I believe represents many other Legionaries remaining in Atlanta. Despite the difficulties of the past few years, we consider it a call and a privilege to serve the Church in our Congregation during this time of renewal. The Visitation from the Holy See concluded a year ago and, since then, we have benefited greatly from the clear direction given by Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, C.S. as delegate of Pope Benedict XVI. It is a great consolation to know that we are guided by direct representatives of the Holy Father.

You may know that, as a Congregation, one of our primary objectives for the next three years is the review and renewal of our Constitutions. In furtherance of this objective, all Legionaries in Atlanta meet monthly to review our spirituality and Constitutions and propose changes that we see necessary. The meetings have helped strengthen us individually and as a community, and we can sense God’s providence at work.

During this time of renewal, we remain dedicated to our mission of serving the Church and serving you the members of the Regnum Christi Movement.



Finally, thank you for your faith, love and collaboration. We are very grateful. Thank you for accompanying us with your prayers!

Sincerely in Christ,



Fr David Daly, LC

Local Coordinator of Apostolate, Atlanta

Local Superior of the Spalding Community