Great article in First Things on the Legionaries of Christ. I have nothing to add to it, since my contact with the Legionaries is limited to a few acquaintances with Regnum Christi members. What I know about the LCs, I know only from the media.
The author of the article, however, is a former LC priest, and is now on the staff of a diocesan seminary. He writes with authority and demands the sort of “common (pastoral) sense” which should be typical of the whole Church.
After twenty-three years as a Legionary, I discerned that it was best for me to abandon the congregation in 2009. Since the naming of a papal delegate to the Legionaries, I have watched and waited for needed reform. Now, two years later, I have decided to lift my silence to express my deep disappointment as well as my profound concern for the fine young men and dedicated priests who still compose the Legion.
I can’t help but wonder if the founder of an order is rotten, whether the entire organisation has any hope of self-correction. I think not.
And it’s a lesson for lay Catholics, too. All that glisters (with clerical garb and ‘orthodox’ appearances) might not be gold.
I once emailed Zenit to ask whether it was a service of Regnum Christi (lay Legionaries) and received a very evasive and slippery answer.