A peek into the abyss

Pete Vere sets the stage:

Keep in mind that Maciel's purpose in creating LC/RC was likely different than the purpose of the Catholic young men who joined LC or the pious Catholic families who got involved in RC. Maciel's intentions, like that of most serial abusers, was likely to acquire, access, maintain, and silence potential victims. Added to his perfidy is the fact he carried out his plan under the guise of Catholic orthodoxy. This means that he had to convince potential victims of his Catholic orthodoxy in order for this scheme to succeed. Thus potential victims were motivated by a love of Catholic orthodoxy, and not by the possibility of becoming victims or accessories to the coverup. In other words, Maciel gamed the system to remove anything internal that could potentially threaten his access to victims. Thus even if the vast majority of current LC agreed with Fr. Berg, Fr. Gill, Fr. Damian Karras, and Edmund Ritter, the LC would likely find it too difficult to reform on its own, given the structures Maciel built into the system. On the other hand, if the AV can remove Maciel's influences, then reform might be possible, although it will likely require new leadership as well as external oversight.

And an interview with some of his "family" adds some previously unknown details about The System Devised by MM (note the total lack of trust these people came to after dealing with him for so long):

Synopsis from mExRC:

A brief chronology of this story:

- Circa 1976. 56-year-old José Rivas (Marcial Maciel) meets and literally woos 19-year-old Blanca Lara, in Tijuana. MM claims he's a widower seeking a girl to marry and start a family. He never fulfills his promise to get married, though, and they move to Cuernavaca.

MM tells Blanca that he works at Shell, and also as a private detective, and for the CIA, and other lies.

Although he claims to be José Rivas, when the time comes to register son Raúl, Maciel uncovers another Birth Certificate under the last name González, and all three children are registered under this last name.

- Circa 1977. MM adopts 1-year-old Omar, son of Blanca from a previous relationship.

- 1980s. In Colombia, tries to rape son Raúl (7). In Madrid,  he asks son Omar for the first time to masturbate  him.  These are the first of repeated instances where he asked his sons to masturbate him, as MM claims his own uncle taught him, and to "practice with me."

- circa 1992. Son Christian is born.

- 1997. Mexican magazine "Contenido" runs the first widespread article on MM's history of sexual abuse. Blanca and the boys question him, he denies everything, and it's downhill from there.

- Circa 2000. MM and Blanca Lara separate, and he leaves their home for good.

The above sheds light on the following:

1. MM was not, as Lucrecia would have us believe, seduced by evil temptresses. It was the other way around.
2. MM was an equal-opportunity child molester. Not even his adopted and biological sons were spared. Son Christian got lucky because of his young age.
3. MM's history of sexual abuse spanned 5 decades.
4. MM was a pure, unadulterated Fraud. Not a great, well-intentioned founder who happened to have great weaknesses.

From Aaron's notes (concerning just a portion of the interviews):

Four interviewed simulataneously: Maciel's wife Pilar? and their children, Christian, Omar and Raul (Jose Raul Gonzalez). After Maciel's death Raul approached the Rector of the Anahuac, DF, Jesus Quirce about the will. They children did not know Maciel was a priest.

It took a year and some months before any movement was made by the Legion. Jesus Quirce, LC and Jaime Duran (financial officer for the Anahuac) took him to a bank in Mexico, Ibanimex, looking for the will.The receptionist can't help them so they try a different branch of the bank.

About a week later Quirce instructs Raul to go to Ibanimex with Duran. They are met by the vice-president of the bank. Raul mentions a network of lies from Duran. A trust in the Bahamas is mentioned. Raul says that his father told him and his mother about a trust in Switzerland.

The Legion (Duran?) suggests that Norma, Maciel's other wife, in Seville (?) had the document. Norma falsified signatures. Maciel retracted the will or that he never made it. Raul believes there is a nework of complicity surrounding the will, hiding it.

Mexican wife was told by Maciel that he would leave a will, he travelled so much that there could have been an airplane crash etc. He told her there was money in Switzerland. Maciel told them that ALVARO CORCUERA and or MARCELINO DE ANDRES would get in touch with them on the occasion of his death, the family are adamant that he repeated these names to them often, and that he never referred to them as priests.

The wife says that Maciel was such a liar she didn't believe half of what he said. She has had no contact from the Legion or these people since Maciel's death. The interviewer asks them what they want to say.

Omar: THe Legion has given them the cold shoulder.

Christian: would like help with his studies

Pilar: addressed pope benedict - will he still allow the Legion to ignore them?

Jose Raul Gonzalez: investigation to address the crimes of abuse. Vatican reocgnises the Legion abused seminarians and other people. Jose recognises the false sorrow of Evaristo Sada at the Youth and Family encounter - in reality there is a destruction of youth and families by the Legion. He says Sada's letter/press release is shameless.

Alvaro Corcuera arranges to meet Jose Raul on the 6th of January at the Anahuac University, Mexico DF. He writes a letter on the 12th of December saying that he is too busy and has appointed Fr. Carlos Skertchly to meet him instead. Alvaro sends his best wishes for Christmas and the New Year. Skertchly meets with Raul and asks what the Legion can do for him, he says that he wants to maintain regular dialogue with the Legion about the issues. Skertchly agrees. After this meeting Skertchly writes a letter in response to Raul's requests, stating that he prefers in this occasion the formality of written word. Skertchly talks about Christian charity in all of this and rejects Raul's requests for money as his inheritance and also in compensation for 8 YEARS OF SEXUAL ABUSE OF RAUL AND HIS BROTHER BY MACIEL. He accuses Raul of extortionism and says that the Legion is in no way willing to entertain his demands. He asks Raul to reflect on his attitude. Raul mentions to the interviewer that he has difficulty with his passport due to different names and identity. He requests help from the relevant government ministry and leaves his address for any contact: hijosmaciel@hotmail.com

[I and will update/clarify asap. This is the charism, friends. This is the nature of the founder who cloaked himself in orthodoxy to play these games with lives, vocations, and souls.]

UPDATE: CNN in Mexico is saying that MM abused his children. That testimony is included above by the children themselves.

UPDATE II: More from a friend who speaks Spanish. First son recounts his abuse starting at age seven (including photos, for Maciel to keep as mementos). It got so bad that he became sexually confused and asked his dad if he could see a psychiatrist. MM says he knew a really good one in Spain and sends him over (to stay with "Auntie Norma" the other wife) and he begins counseling. That man quickly put him on all sorts of drugs -- just as MM did with any Legionary in the ranks who began to have trouble, feeling poorly, depressed, insomnia, struggling with the miasma of insanity, etc.

There has always been drug use in Legion. It was part of MM's way of operating -- medicating men without prescriptions (using obedience to administer) and then if they crashed, they would be labelled as mentally unstable. All of this was on the exlegionaries discussion board -- another reason it had to be shut down.

UPDATE III: English article on the interview.

"I'm shocked and disappointed at what I've heard," Fair said in a telephone interview. "We want to act responsibly and get to the bottom of things and correct what needs to be corrected. We're going to be in the process of doing that."

"Shocked and disappointed" falls grievlously short at this point, Jim. "Correct what needs to be corrected?" Given Pete's analysis at the top of this post, the only corrective is to extract any remaining bodies and blow the whole damn thing to smithereens.

UPDATE IV: a cooler head has weighed in:

1. I think a bit of rage is good when seeing the limitless perversion this man lived, however my concern that it go to waste in a non-constructive manner. I wish to throw out one or two ideas: Write your bishop. Do it personally without starting a campaign. If 4 to 6 sincere letters will influence him. Ask him if he could in addition to the recommendations of the Visitor, ask for the dissolution of the LC, given the level of scandal is just to much to bear for the high standard that religious life is and the damage this has done to the faithful. When the Bishops give input to the Holy See it is very powerful.
2. Remember the time delay information vacuum LCs move in. THEY NEED TO KNOW. Have details printed in hand and ask if these things are true. Do not worry about the response. Believe me you will have got them thinking. Ask them always that question- where do you find a charism here?
3. Maybe leaving the horror house of co-dependents means giving them suggestions about other places that need them. I think many would quickly separate the wheat from the darnel in their formation if they found the right place.

Comments

[anonymous]

The whole thing is SICKENING, but not surprising behavior from a pedophile. They simply would NEVER pass up the chance to use and abuse someone who can't fight back.

And this part is just outrageous: "He asks Raul to reflect on his attitude."

No signs of humility, charity, truth, or even the basics of Christianity in this group. No signs of life at all. The legion and rc is nothing but a rotting corpse, just like their founder.

[m]

"Keep in mind that Maciel's purpose in creating LC/RC was likely different than the purpose of the Catholic young men who joined LC or the pious Catholic families who got involved in RC."

This could be true, but once you find out what the real purpose is, why not get out? Especially now!

I know it's a slow process to get out... BTDT. But, when my SA said, "if MM ever found out that our K4J couldn't recruit (wasn't recruiting, hadn't recruited) new members, then he'd cancel it in an instant. He'd think it was a big waste of time." I tried arguing with her saying that I thought the purpose was to expose kids to their faith in a deeper way. She said no, it's for recruitment & my reason was pretty much a side benefit. I don't think that this reasoning was kept quiet or hidden, was it? Looking back now, I know that I couldn't reconcile the two positions -- doing good for good's purpose vs. doing good to get something out of it.

I didn't have time to read the rest of this post, but I wanted to get my thoughts out on this. The whole thing is rotten.

[White Tree]

I wonder if the "average Joe" on the streets of Mexico heard or saw this interview. If so, how do they feel now about MM?

This is the first I've heard of Fr. Skertchly. How dare he use "Christian charity" as an argument for denying Raul anything!

[THE_Br._Dan]

MM really was leading people to their destruction feeding them both truth and lies. Very scary.

[Anonymous]

Basically Legionaries are quick to pass judgement on human souls outside of the Legion, yet if it is a criticism against their own, we all must think the best and be forgiving.

Seems like the vow of charity is alive and well!

[it just gets weirder and weirder]

Ironic that for so long, we were told that "a good tree bears good fruits" as a justification for hte founder's holiness in the face of accusations.

Now we are seeing nanother side of the Legion, and teh fruits don't look too tasty.

[Anon Too]

Do you remember the stories that MM needed a photo of each person...was said he could make decisions about vocations based on seeing a photo. Seems kinda sick now...sorta like porn for MM or a menu of future victims to manipulate and sodomize later once under his control. He always like the cute guys...

[mExRC]

Anon Too,

You are right. The man was a world-class pervert.

One of the things I failed to include on my synopsis included on Giselle's post, was that Raul said during the interview that MM enjoyed taking photos of them during the sexual abuse events.

But hey! God writes straight with crooked lines! And God makes beautiful music with broken instruments!

I wish someone would have actually broken Nuestro Fraude's "instrument" before he had a chance to destroy the innocence and damaged the psyche of all his many young victims.

[Anon Too]

mExRC - Yep. I would like to know which Legionairy was in charge of cleaning up his porn stash after his death? There is no doubt in my mind that he kept "souvenirs". MM must have kept a secret lair/safe house somewhere too. I'm sure his own children seduced him too (that's sarcasm people). Sick sick sick. How ANY LC/RC can stay in after this is just unbelievable. Please B16, end it for them if they can't on their own!

[logician]

" Do you remember the stories that MM needed a photo of each person...was said he could make decisions about vocations based on seeing a photo. Seems kinda sick now...sorta like porn for MM or a menu of future victims to manipulate and sodomize later once under his control. He always like the cute guys..."
Hmm. I've been saying I want an exorcist to look into this fiasco, in case the man had any explicit connection with the Devil. (Not saying I know he did. Just that if he did, and it's possible and would explain a lot, we'd be better off with that work of evil severed.) The more you know about a person, the more easily you can target them in any sense, including spiritually. So make a note of this if we can ever request Rome look into that possible problem.

(Really, I don't mean to be a demon-hunter here... Won't pray directly against the Devil myself even, for multiple reasons... It just seems like such a serious possibility should be taken care of.)

[mExRC]

Friends,

Please consider the irony of this, in the continuing legion/regnum saga:

1. MM founds legion/regnum, starts raising funds for it, demands his subjects to do same.

2. MM allocates substantial resources to fund his lavish lifestyle.

3. MM creates offshore accounts and sets up family trusts for his biological children.

4. MM appoints one or several LCs the executors of his will for the benefit of his biological children, and indicates so to his children.

5. LC executor decides to DISOBEY founder's orders, breaks obedience vow.

6. LC superiors hide account, will and trust fund from founder's biological children.

7. LC superiors demand charity from biological children but won't act accordingly themselves.

8. LC superiors defend and renew their allegiance to founder's Church-approved charism and "foundational spirit."

All of which leads me to confirm that, in legion/regnum land...

a) The Pope trumps the bishops.

b) Maciel trumps the Pope.

c) Money and appearances trump Maciel.

d) Current LC superiors' power and control trump money and appearances. Because, even in the face of heavy losses of troops and money, they just WON'T admit to anything OR renounce their posts.

Not even Mexican literature Nobel prize winner Octavio Paz could ever have written such a bizarre, surreal story.

[Skunk]

Tsk tsk. There you go with the emotional contagion again.

Remember, "let's hold our fire until ALL the facts and circumstances are in. MM was an extraordinarily complex individual." "Condemn the bad you know to be true. He is more than the sum of his faults."

[I believe the Internet.]

Skunk, you stink!!!

[anonymous]

An active RC member asked Fr. John Hopkins about all of the information on the blogs and he told her that it is ALL true.

[gto]

The accusations of sodomizing the children of his double life has been picked up by AP so it's into the American press now:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jUvagNBIbUW667fgWWx3Vhx6JHfAD9E7FSHG1

Don't think the Legion's compartmentalized defense (admitting to some things while not denying most things) is going to keep them above water much longer.

[anonymous]

Good for Fr Hopkins.

Is he packing his bags yet?

[gto]

Still running hard from the truth. Never denying. Never admitting:

Jim Fair, a U.S.-based spokesman for the Legionaries, said he didn't know anything more than what was broadcast in Mexico about the woman, her children and Maciel.
"I'm shocked and disappointed at what I've heard"

[Captain Renault:]

"I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!"

[Lee]

so sad, so sad, so sad.

I pray that Pope Benedict will close this dis-order down.

[anonymous]

Dear Jim Fair,

This is what happens when you sell your soul to the Devil.

If you have a shred of integrity left, you would stop representing the Legion and head for the nearest confessional (and not a confessional manned by an LC)

[Pete Vere]

As a canonist, I'm trying to look at this latest revelation as dispassionately as I can. As a Catholic, I trust Pope Benedict to do the right thing with the AV. But as a parent to children in the same age range as Maciel's when the LC founder began to abuse them, I have only one reaction: SHUT. THEM. DOWN.

[gto]

Pete, Deirdre is correct. Shoving the rot to the back of the fridge just makes it worse.

It's almost like the Legion is a small child in an abusive home too frightened to admit or deny what a parent did.

MM is rotting in his grave (God save him), but the order he left behind is completely crippled, unable to reach out to the only thing that can save them: truth.

[Erin Manning]

I just posted this on my blog--the Associated Press has picked up this story:

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/03/03/1052821/mexican-woman-2-kids-with-scandal.html

[anon]

The AP article has gone straight into 50 US papers and counting.

[Anonymous]

As someone commented about MM's connection with the Devil -- that's reinforces the connection: "regnum legionis" -- regnum legion -- the reign of Legion -- the reign of Satan.

Too bad for Satan that his trick hasn't worked -- it hasn't, has it?