Hearing from the new priests

From this source:

Rome .- It's been three hours since the Mass of ordination for 50 new priests (49 of the Legionaries of Christ and one Somascan priest) and inside the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, there's still a big party. For the last 13 hours hundreds of relatives who come from around the world are excited to find those guys who have just devoted their lives to the religious congregation that can not shake the memory of the sins of its founder, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado.

They hug, cry, laugh. They are excited because their loved ones achieved a dream: priestly ordination. They, the families, have just received communion from the hands of the new priests. Fathers, mothers, brothers, uncles, cousins ​​and friends have witnessed the promises they made before men and before God. They have seen the anointing of the hands with sacred chrism and believe in their Catholic faith, there is a new Christ among them, and that his hands are blessed. They want to receive his blessing and kiss his hands. Gone are the sufferings of knowing they are in another country, in other lands. Far away were the doubts of what they experienced when the world media reported that the chief of the Legion had sexually abused children and adolescents. Years passed, and, finally, came the great day.

They all look happy. There are Gabriel Abascal, Juan Pablo Aviña, Andres and Juan Pablo Botero, Jose de Jesus Bustos, Luis Eduardo Camarena, Julio Cesar Chaparro, Steven Costello, Dalla Vecchia Orivaldo, Javier de Anda and another 40 new priests. 50, still dressed in white just said "present" when the ordination ceremony was ready to begin, the ritual that just lasted over three hours.

It's Monday, December 12, 2011, day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and for many, perhaps the most important day of their lives. Only they know how many insecurities they had to fight, how many dilemmas they faced and how did they they found it possible to offer their body and soul to the priesthood within the congregation that in recent years has faced serious scandals because of Marcial Maciel, now repudiated by the Vatican.

They are the elect, those whose careers culminated in the priesthood, because this generation encompassed many more, nearly 200 men who started together, but in the end only 49 were those ordained as priests. The new priests come from seven countries: 20 are from Mexico, 15 U.S., five from Brazil, five from Colombia, two from Italy, one from Spain and one in Hungary.

On Tuesday the 13th, a day after the ordinations, there is a marathon of Masses. From eight o'clock on are scheduled 49 First Masses of the new priests. And while it's a public ceremony, these Masses are in fact a very intimate time for themselves and their families, who seem to see at this moment the coronation of many sacrifices. A few, like the young father Lorenzo Gomez, a native of San Jose de Gracia, Michoacán, the excitement is doubled because the same day (December 13) his parents, here present, celebrate 36 years of marriage. The Gospel of John talks about the wedding at Cana. In his 30 years, 18 were spent with the Legionaries. His mother, Dona Silvia, acknowledges that at first did not want her son to be the seminary. "Of my four children, he was the only boy, besides always being playful, he liked to go to the ranch with his dad, chasing the chickens, cows, and as a child was very responsible. "Leaving was very hard," he says.

Lorenzo, who at the slightest provocation shows his big smile, is a promoter of vocations in Jalisco and Colima. The job is to invite children to come to the seminary. The priest said he was not affected by the issue Maciel, but acknowledges that sexual abuse of the founder who died in 2008 still cause distrust in some families of children who visit. The new priest believes that this experience will serve for a more purified Legion. "It's a process that has to live in peace, we must see the result of the Legion ... That's the way God sees it, and surely we will be the generation of hope, or at least this is our intention," he says.

After the Mass, we find Father Salvador Nuño at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Via Aurelia, which at times seems smaller than it is due to the large number of relatives and friends who attended. Salvador, a native of Zapotlanejo, where they began the "Altos de Jalisco," is someone bold and straightforward. I ask for an interview and not made the request. Salvador is a vocation promoter in Monterrey and Saltillo, and entered the seminary at age 11. He said that the life of Maciel was a surprise when he eventually heard the news. He admitted that for himself and his family there were also moments of confusion, but for them, to see him so convinced to stay in the Legion, restored trust in it.

"I have felt very peaceful, we must draw the strength to save the work of God. Sure, it hurts to experience the departure of his peers, but this has also been an opportunity to acquire more faith," said Salvador, who never ceases to be called by his acquaintances. He has been working in Rome.

'We were too perfect'

Next to the Basilica of Guadalupe is the Legion's General House, and inside, the chapel where from very early other first masses have been celebrated.

Gabriel Abascal waits for his turn. He prefers to talk before his Mass with his family, from the beginning he has been mistrustful of interviews. He has great enthusiasm, as though the figure of the priest is not fashionable now, he feels confident in his choice. In his homily he will confess the many doubts he had before arriving to this moment.

His future as a priest will be in the cities of Monterrey, Durango and Torreon, where he knows "is infested with Zetas" he says, and though he  must travel by road, he says he will not tempt the danger, he knows he has to travel only in daytime and never alone.

Gabriel, a nephew of Carlos Abascal, a former interior minister who died in 2008, says he dealt with Maciel and always received good examples. "That was the shock, the double life he lived. We can not cover the sun with one finger and finally the founder should not be a life model for us or for anyone. "

He notes, as other colleagues, that the Legion is in a period of self-analysis. "The hit helped because we were too perfect and now we are reviewing our lifestyle, our rules. Now we get out with other horizons of life, more renewed."

Gabriel says there are many comments that hurt him, it hurts him that they call the Superiors "La Cúpula", he believes that the congregation is a family, a group of friends, though many are no longer inside, they dont cease to be Legionaires.

Two friends arrived to his Mass, now former legionnaires. "I left because God did not call me, but I found in the Legion the meaning of my life," said Miguel Angel Carranco.

Abascal has heard in recent years all sorts of comments that hurt a lot more than others. "There was once I got to the hospital for family reasons and one of the doctors, when asked what order I belonged and I said to the Legionaries of Christ ... his comment was: 'Do they exist any more?' It hurt a lot. "

Silence to find the way

Before becoming priests, these men lived a week of silence, for as St. Ignatius said: "And the spirit is to exercise and to do nothing better than prayer, so that all decisions are before God and not bound by the memories."

Officially since the scandal of the double life of Marcial Maciel broke , 42 priests and 151 seminarians have left the order, but some say the numbers are higher. They say up to 200 seminarians and 50 to 60 priests.

"Only God alone knows the real situation" says Father Andreas Schöggl, Head of Communications of the Legionaries of Christ in Rome: "Because on the road to the priesthood there are guys who do not feel called to follow and that does not mean that the Maciel was guilty of that, perhaps some influence came from him (the scandal) too, but not determinative, because when we knew, we had all had doubts, "he says.

Schöggl, of Swedish origin and a priest since 2003, does not hesitate to display more numbers. He discloses them because he, knowing the path that must be followed usually to become a priest, knows each generation of priests is almost a miracle, and even more because of the founder.

On Monday there were 49 ordained, but in 2010 was 62. In 2009, 60, in 2008, 53, and in 2007, 48. That's why we call "elect" those who are called by God to be priests, because Schöggl explains, every year, between 150 and 200 young men enter the Legion (96 last year, ndr). In the generations that have graduated since 2007 they lived through the height of the scandal caused by the sins of Father Marcial Maciel.

The same Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, Pontifical Delegate for the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, and who officiated at the ordination Mass on Monday, December 12, had no qualms to quickly recall in his homily the bad times that the Legion has lived in the recent years.

"We know in particular that the Legionaries of Christ are experiencing difficulties at this time, are engaged in a path of obedience to the Church, a path of renewal, an ever deeper rediscovery of its mission, its placement within the Church. A road, sometimes tiresome but that is generously being followed according to the directives of the Church, "said De Paolis during the Mass of ordination of new priests.

Stigma

They, the new priests would prefer not to speak more about him, least of all in a time of great joy for them and their families. But they accept to talk with El Universal. "We will not cover the sun with a finger," some say. "The Legion will be purified" say others.

Many are still on the idea that "dirty clothes are washed at home." Almost all agree that the issue of Marcial Maciel has done much derision and has been treated with much exaggeration.

There are some who still doubt that "all" that is said is true. As if the children Maciel fathered as a priest did not exist. As if he had not abused children and youngsters of his seminary. As if the people who were cheated were part of a story that came to disturb their happy life.

And if they, are uncomfortable talking about Maciel, their families know it is better not to touch the subject. "Journalists only write bad things. Look at them, here they are happy and we too, because we know they are fine."

Some prefer not to talk and evade any conversation simply because they know they are in front of a reporter. Those who speak, immediately get defensive when they feel the question is coming. They do not want any shadows on this important moment for their children or siblings. "They are happy and that's what matters, the rest we leave it to God." "We are no one to judge."

Most new Legionaires are between 30 and 32 years old (only two are already 36), which means they entered the seminary at 11 and 13 years. They have spent more than half of their lives inside the Legion. They have spent their boyhood and early youth hearing that Marcial Maciel was a role model, and although they knew of the allegations against the founder of the congregation, most of the time they heard how the seminary teachers defended the life and work of the man who sexually abused children and teens.

When you see, engage and listen to these guys you can avoid the thought they look younger than they are. They exude kindness and ingenuity. Most come from strong families, very religious and without significant economic needs. Not all come from wealthy families, but you can clearly guess where they come from.

Once upon a time ...

When the vast majority of them was born (between 1979 and 1981), the image of Marcial Maciel was good, although since 1978 the former legionary Jose Barba, an adult, had written a letter that Marcial Maciel had sexually abused him and 20 other companions, when they were still minors. Those were other times when few  media engaged on criticism of the Church. When they were born, Marcial Maciel was aide to Pope John Paul II, and accompanied the pontiff as his first trip to Mexico in 1979.

In the early 90s, when many of them entered the seminary, Maciel had already established himself as one of the religious leaders closer to the Pontiff. He travelled on the papal plane. However, they lived with a sick and old Maciel, so that their knowing of him, in most cases was limited. Or so say the boys.

Some say that the existence and contact with the founder was not much, besides that not everyone was in the same place at the same time. Perhaps those who were in Rome may have had a little more contact with him, at least to see him a little more, but say even that was not much.

It was not until the fall of 2008 when, within the congregation, superiors began to talk with each student about what outside of what was already an evident scandal. Information from their superiors began to flow months after the death of the founder (January 30, 2008) and more than three years after he left the leadership of the Legion (January 20, 2005).

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ordered in May 2006 that Maciel was to abandon the exercise of his priestly ministery and retreat to reflect on his sins. The boys were then in the seminary, but they were not told the Vatican already knew that what was published in the media was true.

Andreas Schöggl ensures that information began on a personal and internal mode (according to age and generation of each seminarian). "But it was clear that telling hundreds of people one day the news was going to jump to the press, as happened in late January 2009. Things were said clearly, but without sensationalism. At the same time the communication and reception was not uniform and full-scope from the beginning, because there was a high degree of emotional, cultural differences .... In some cases they tried to respect the privacy of the individuals involved (the identity of the founder's daughter and her mother, as well as the identity of the two people who claimed to be his children) until the press revealed these data," says the head of communication of the Legionaries in Rome.

And although for some of the newly ordained living together with Maciel was a rare experience, they acknowledge that they saw him as a father, as the master who guided them on their way to God. They regarded him with respect, and admired him for the work he had begun (institutes, schools).

Maybe that's why, when asked his opinion about Maciel, none can be indifferent. Some show pain. Other distanced themselves long ago. A few more chose to leave the Legion.

They say they did not gave their lives to Maciel, but to God. That Maciel is part of the story. That the Legion is much more than its founder. It is striking that in the book "God gives everything" absolutely no one gives him a word. As if Maciel had not existed, as they did not want to show a trace that he was once there.

"We are in a wounded legion"

On Monday 12 afternoon, just hours after ordination, there is the opportunity to talk with some of the new priests. Many have come with their families, others are returning to the General House or to the Center for Higher Studies where they have been prepared in the last days, where some of them still live.

There is a real emotion, even though with strangers they try to hold back. They use the same habit (black cassock with a black waistband), the same black shoes, they all wear a very short hair and comb it in the same way (the part on the side, from left to right). Some are more shy, others more open.

Father Jose de Jesus Bustos is considered shy. He comes running to the appointment, he says it's his first interview and that he does not know what it is about, but here he is.

 - How does it feel to be a priest? I ask.

It feels the same but there is something that changes, but the temperament is the same. At an emotional level one is well aware that one does not belong to himself any more.

He tells he was 14 when he entered the Legion, searching more fun than a true vocation. "Since I was a year ahead in school and school was over, I decided to make this experience because they told me there was a lot of sport, languages ​​were learned and every child is interested in that. Furthermore, some of my cousins were already in and that called my attention."

Jesus helped prepare the meeting room where superiors met with Cardinal De Paolis, and sometimes even with Cardinal Angelo Sodano (Dean of the College of Cardinals). He says the meetings were not always difficult, but sometimes yes. There were times when he realized that there was tension because nobody touched the snacks that he delivered, but says sometimes you could hear the laughter among the participants.

He notes that the scandal did not affect him as much as other fellows, "because it was God who called me, not Father Maciel. I did not ever find myself in the dilemma of leaving my vocation. I know others doubted deeply. What bothers me is to listen that all superiors knew, because it is not true. For me it was as if suddenly the Legion had been ill, and I did not want to leave it. I believe that the Legion is wounded but with God's help it will come forward, "says the new priest.

When asked if it hurts to be judged, his eyes become damp and keeps silent for a moment. "Judging the whole family is ugly because the Legion is not a building or a house, we are people," he says.

He works coordinating the work of other Legionaries and consecrated women in schools in Venezuela. He jokes when he says that Hugo Chavez will put many obstacles, but they are still working. He defends the work they do, says they are not elitist, they help many poor children.

The crooked lines of God

"I do not feel cheated because everything was lived in good faith," said Father Patricio Suarez, ordained last year. His grandfather, he says, was a doctor and general practioner of Maciel, and he never saw or heard of anything abnormal.

He is of those who believe that "the dirty clothes are washed at home" because it is a family. So he sees the Legionaries of Christ, and it is true, if you take into account that in his 31 years, 19 of them have been lived inside the Legion.

During the Mass of ordination, Father Suarez spent his time taking care of and talking to the relatives of the new priests. He laughs easily, he jokes with whoever he engages, but when asked about the Maciel case, he gets serious. Assures that the allegations do not prove anything, are just that, allegations.

"What we live was in good faith and yes, we knew things that contradicted his life, but to forgiveness is a really christian attitude, and even in evil and sin there is something mysterious."

Notes that when all the scandals began to emerge, they reacted as in any family. "We review, we talk, and we face change .... What we did was to try to be together, "he says.

When asked if after the scandals, something changed and how, his smile disappears again. He remains silent because his eyes and are full of tears. "Social rejection is a blow, the people we know at the time gave us much support, but it has been very unfair to qualify at all for a person, because our job is to help and it is as if a physician who wants to cure one day he cannot do this, it hurts a lot, "he says.

Fr. Patricio is thinking. "Basically we do not dedicate ourselves to a person, so to see each of them still here is a miracle. We can distinguish between someone's personal life and the work of God."

He, who at first was suspicious of the allegations, concludes: "God writes straight with crooked lines, and because of what happened, the Church today has us checking everything and when I say everything is everything: rules, constitution, economy ... everything, everything, everything. "

Each one with its process

Since they began to talk internally of the scandals of its founder, the Legionaries of Christ began to study also the stages of grief, because basically that's what they have experienced. They have gone from denial, to doubt that everything you hear or read is not true. Then have passed through the stage of anger to questioning the why of what they were going over, to reacting with anger.

They have also gone through the stage of negotiation, that is, trying to see these scandals from different perspectives and find something positive in all this tide of situations. Then there are those who live with depression and perhaps it was they who decided to no longer follow. In the end, for some acceptance has come .

"As far as I can see, these steps actually occur, but naturally is not like math, with fixed duration and clear boundaries. Much also depends on the internal constitution of each person, there may be several consecutive cycles ... But overall, after almost three years to know the facts related to the founder most of the Legionnaires have integrated this facts "says Andreas Schöggl , who says they have learned to live with a scar.

The renewal within the Legion continues. With the ordination of these 49 priests, this year the Legionaries of Christ religious exceed 900 active. There are currently 1129 seminarians. Against many odds, they still exist. The scandals is not finished, and what seems to be is they wil keep working, though wounded.

The numbers sound highly suspect, given that so many of them have left -- so how they have more members than before is ... curious.

Comments

[aaron]

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[Fr John]

Phrases like this make my blood boil. "Gabriel says there are many comments that are hurtful to him, it hurts him to be refered to as 'the cúpula'. He considers the congregation to be a family, a group of friends, though many are no longer inside, THEY WILL ALWAYS BE LEGIONARIES." Fr Garza said the same thing. Obviously it's something they all have heard in theirs Sunday Talks, retreats and spiritual direction (oh, I'm sorry, it's formation dialogue now). In the long run, they are still taught to think and feel what the Cúpula decides is right.

[Scipio Africanus]

Absolutely Fr. John, it strikes me a lot to see how they all answer basically in the same way. By the way, not giving a damm for Maciel's and his system's victims. It is obvious these were not spontaneous interviews but masterminded by Fr. Schöggl, but it still surprises me.

[Hope]

According to this article, the Legion's spokesman claims that the news on Maciel were given to all Legionaries with clarity. That's NOT TRUE.

When I heard the news, my superior did not want to tell me, he only said, "One of the accusations is true". Finally I got him to tell me that Maciel had fathered a Child. When I asked him if he had abused young seminarians or was addicted to drugs, my superior laugh and said, "Fr Maciel did so many good things. Many people would slander him with those false accusations".

I finally found everything out, until my Spiritual Director, who left the Legion, told me everything. From then on I knew that they I couldn't think of my superirs as "friends or family", but rather a "cúpula". I felt betrayed, it wasn't until the Vatican Comuniqué that I confirmed what my Spiritual Director had told me.

[Scipio Africanus]

Hope: I confirm that. We probably didn't have the same superior. He told at least five different versions of Maciel's misdeeds in less than one year depending on when he spoke with each one. As these newly ordained priests confirm, we probably know now why the LCs don't care about Maciel's victims. Simply because they don't even believe they are victims

[giselle]

"He remains silent because his eyes and are full of tears. 'Social rejection is a blow, the people we know at the time gave us much support, but it has been very unfair...'"

Here would be an excellent place to start. Dear Father: how do you think Juan Vaca, Jose Barba and the rest of the victims felt when they were rejected as liars and enemies of God? What about the marginalisation and smearing of all who believed them? How many Legionaries were themselves ostracised for not signing onto the "mission" over the years?

[pete vere]

P.S. Spoke with a friend of mine today who is a former L.C., but left while still a seminarian and is now a diocesan priest and a canon lawyer who has helped many victims of clerical sexual misconduct. He expressed deep concern for the victims, and besides helping victims both pastorally and canonically, will offer Masses for victims.

One thing he said to me is that many priests from smaller, rural or inner-city parishes don't receive a whole lot of Mass intentions. He's not the only one to tell me this recently; a very orthodox priest from a nearby small parish told me the same thing.

Both priests would love to receive more Mass requests from the faithful, including those for abuse victims. They were also very clear that it's not a money thing, and have at times refused the stipend stating the intention was a good one, they didn't need the money, and that they were just happy to have a good intention from the faithful for their weekday Masses.

So I would urge LC priests following this blog to offer Masses for Maciel's victims, and I would similarly encourage other readers of the blog to check with local priests to see if they're short on Mass intentions, and if so to have Masses said for the victims as well.

All prayer sincerely offered to Christ is good, however, the Mass is the greatest prayer one can offer for others.

[Anonymous]

"how did they they found it possible to offer their body and soul to the priesthood within the congregation that in recent years has faced serious scandals because of Marcial Maciel, now repudiated by the Vatican."

Answer: Because they are still brainwashed.