Abuse in precandidacy

Nicole Winfield has published another article on the Legion situation. This one covers the abuses in the Precandidacy (PC) program in Rhode Island.

Former PCs have posted their stories on the 49 Weeks blog.

 

(Posted by Deirdre Mundy at Giselle's request.)

Corrected with proper location for PC. Sorry for the mistake! -DM

Comments

[Deirdre Mundy]

For those new to the site, check out : http://49weeks.blogspot.com/

for precandidates' stories.

And the Winfield piece is here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/ap-exclusive-vatican-urged-to-close-legion-school-where-teens-suffered-anorexia-depression/2012/07/09/gJQANpL0XW_story.html

[Deirdre Mundy]

One quick thought-- by picking out 'leaders' for special treatment, the PC leaders took a damaging dynamic that occurs at most high schools (Where certain girls are pegged as 'practically perfect by students and teachers alike) and made it even MORE twisted.

Because in a normal environment, the girls who are tagged as 'defective' usually have a few close friends, and being a weirdo is less damaging when you have emotional and social support.

PC took that normal, healthy support away, so the girls who felt like they didn't quite fit in had to work harder at passing for normal rather than just finding other girls who shared interests and personality traits....

Teenaged girls are already in emotional and hormonal turmoil, and close friendships are a special gift that allows most of us to escape that age with fairly little damage to the psyche. I think the 'no friends' rule is probably the source of a lot of the pain-- there was literally no support for these girls.

If you look at POW narratives, what got the men through the camps was the close friendships they formed with other GIs. Maciel continually devalued friendship.

Meanwhile, many of the great Saints had very close friends who helped them and comforted them and often achieved sanctity with them.

God never meant for us to be alone--he even sent the disciples out in twos, and Jesus had a best friend (who was not the one chosen as 'leader'...)

[observer]

This part is just evil...

"Often, information from the weekly reports written about each girl’s development would be shared with the priests who heard her confession — a striking violation of privacy. The priests could then reinforce the directors’ decisions in confession with the girls, she said.

“So she’s hearing this from everyone and thinks it’s the Holy Spirit talking. And we would say ‘Yes, of course,’” Martinez told the AP in a phone interview from Monterrey, Mexico."

[Glenn]

They always told us that is was worse for the girls than it was for the boys.

[Aaron]

It takes an awful lot of courage to speak out and I am proud of all involved in this horrible mess.

I really hope this letter and plea is heard by the right people, but I wonder if it is not the state health and education authorities who should be involved?

For too long we think that "the vatican" should do something. Why not engage those that really have an obligation and an ounce at least of moral conscience our local authorities?

[Deirdre Mundy]

At this point, I think it's the parents that should do something.

Bring your daughters home. There's nothing good in the PC that you can't find elsewhere, and there's a lot of evil that your child should not be subjected to.

It doesn't matter if she'll be mad at you. You're the parent, and sometimes you need to do what's best for your child, even if she'd rather stay in the harmful environment. God put her in your care for a reason.

[areader]

I believe that they did not intend to hurt anybody and it was written that the directress said they did it out of love...they were taught and believed that deception/abuse is love. No apologies until absolutely necessary does lead me to believe the cover-up is about minimizing monetary damages. As well as the "reform"...

[PWC]

deception/abuse is love???!!!

That is as twisted as it can possibly get.

[-9 years of Lies]

DM-

You wrote: There's nothing good in the PC that you can't find elsewhere.

Bingo.

That's the point of Fr. Thomas Berg's recent piece in First Things. There is nothing in the LC/RC that is "good" which is not part of the patrimony of the Church writ large.

What is "unique" to the LC/RC is that corruption, manipulation and belief that deception and abuse are "love". Just reading some of the LC's comments on the First Things piece, you can see it in how they justify their practices. And when pressed further, they always respond "please pray for us, we are just servants of God, we need your prayers, embrace the cross" etc. Which is a cop-out and an insult.

But tactically very effective. Just ask Alvaro Corcuera. It's his M.O.

[Sarita]

I don't blame any of the directors/ consecrated for the deception or abuse. If I got to the point where I would inform on my companions (out of charity of course) or ignore someone who was visibly hurting in the name of the RC methodology, it isn't that much of a stretch for someone who was truly "integrated" to perpetuate these abuses. Our formators were so so young (I think my assistant was only 21 or 22) and in a way they were victims as well. While I've had to deal with the guilt of watching so many of my companions suffer, I cannot imagine the guilt that some of my former formators may feel.

And Deirdre Mundy, I fully agree with your point on special treatment and charity. Out of all the things I had issues with, the preferential treatment and targeting of leaders hurt me immensely. I wanted to be one of the "leader girls" so badly, yet I never lived up to the expectations. Teenage girls are motivated by acceptance by peers, belonging to a group and attention; these needs were tapped into and used to mold us into perfect little "Women of the Kingdom". The methodology was positive and negative reinforcement at its finest.

I have always wondered about the boy's Apostolic School and Precandidacy. I can't imagine living like mini-Legionaries was exactly pleasant either...

[observer]

Sarita, I do agree with you to a certain extent that I don't blame the directors, but then again, you didn't become a director without having left your conscience and your sense of right and wrong to the side at some point, so that you could move ahead and be one of the favored ones.

I do believe that every single directress had a moment where they knew what they were doing was hurtful or wrong, but they did it anyway because the temptation of moving up in the movement was too great. Most couldn't take it, and left after a few years, others lasted for 20 years, then left, others are still there.

Margarita Mtz. says she would happily close the pre-candidacy, but she can't b/c the girls are begging her to keep it open. That's just more LC/RC justification for their bad practices. They will never close the PC because it's too valuable to them.

They also say they can't close the school for the PCs b/c it's too hard to close a school, but how many schools have they closed from one day to the next without much explanation, just because it was no longer something worthwhile for them.

I do think those on the inside are also victims, but I also think that there is enough information/proof available for those who are courageous enough to face it to be able to make the right decision, and close the PC.

[Glenn]

A very difficult step to take in recovery from the RC/LC is the personal realization, that, however small, we all played a role in the deception.

It has been a mission of mine to ask forgiveness in person of those I have wronged while in the LC, and I take the opportunity to do so here publicly. I invite anyone who wants to contact me to go ahead and do it, so that I can beg forgiveness in person.

It is a tough step, but a necessary one in the recovery process.

[observer]

That's a brave step, Glenn. Thank you for your testimony of bravery and courage. We need more of that in this world of ours!

[Dingledore]

That says a lot about you Glenn. Too bad more people/priests/RC/CONSECRATED aren't like you! What is Maleny's (sp?) role in all this?

[The Monk]

Sarita, you make an excellent point, "Our formators were so so young (I think my assistant was only 21 or 22) and in a way they were victims as well." It's not an excuse for anything but it is the harsh reality.

Observer, "you didn't become a director without having left your conscience and your sense of right and wrong to the side at some point, so that you could move ahead and be one of the favored ones." I'm not sure that I agree with you on this. It's a long, imperceptible process for some that I don't think is ever related to a conscious decision. That's why the organizational structure and method is cult-like. Hindsight gives us a different perspective on our behavior - if only we knew as clearly then as we know now.

For what it's worth, I had just left a long comment on the Winfield piece (which I agree with) on the prior thread "New Policy" which I won't repeat here. Because most of the current LC/RC leaders are so imbued with the MM "doctrine" I think it's almost impossible for them to move on; they don't seem to be able to break their inherited thinking patterns. They are still trapped in a dysfunctional family.

[Mad Coward]

I thought I should mention that Margarita Martinez was only 12 years old when she entered the Precandidacy program in Mexico.

[Justice]

Mad Coward, which is the reason I disagree with Sarita. No one can expect teenage girls to assume they understand "spirituality" better than their formators - for the most part. Yes, instinct will play a role, but a girl going completely against the system to find her way out would be rare in a cult-like environment. Which this is! We're not talking about High School! The parents are those responsible for handing over their daughters to women who were nothing but children themselves - unfortunately, not the girls.

[Sarita]

I do agree that everyone (PC's, Legionaries, 3GF alike) does have some responsibility in their actions. However the system was so subtle and all consuming, that it was so very easy to surrender your reason along with your conscience to RC. I've also apologized to those girls that I recruited to the PC and Regnum Christi. I also feel guilty for walking past so many of my companions and instead of offering a word of consolation or a hug, I told a formator instead. Did I think it was wrong? Maybe. But I was so convinced that my "vocation" as a PC and the norms that accompanied it was God's Will for me that I never allowed my doubts to come into play.

So when I see how easily I fell into that lifestyle of "tattle-taling" and self righteous fidelity, it is very easy for me to see how my formators would also attempt to "form" me according to "God's Will". Do I think that some directors/ formators abused their power? Yes. But overall it has helped me to retain a sense of compassion towards those still in the Movement and to avoid bitterness and anger towards certain people still within the system.

[observer]

Monk, you are right that the process is barely perceptible, however, I do believe there is a moment of lucidity in which you arrive at a point of no return. Several who have left (and were directresses/formators) have mentioned to me that they came to a point where they just realized that what they were doing was wrong. Maybe it wasn't right away...for one it was after 5 years, for another it was 10 years, but they did have that moment. It's just an opinion based on anecdotes, and on a very firm belief that the conscience is a very strong faculty that is very, very hard to silence.

[observer]

Mad coward...wow, 12 years? Really? That is really very sad in its own right.

Praying for Margarita. From what I've heard she's a really genuine person.

[The Monk]

observer | July 09, 2012 at 06:11 PM

Agreed! It can take a very long time. In my case I hung in for 20 years! Admittedly the environment was different then (RC and frantic recruitment was just starting.) There were practically no role-models of others who successfully left. Those we heard about all seemed to be bitter and angry making it easy for the LC to dissimulate the rationale. When I finally saw the light, I left. A stint in Gabon, central west Africa, helped me distance myself from the cultist thinking. Leaving was the hardest thing I ever did. That's why I have some compassion for those who haven't been able to.

[Pete Vere]

Being part of the previous generation of LC/RC critics, I'm truly impressed by what the next generation has put together with 49weeks. Bravo Zulu to all you young ladies.

I also agree with Sarita that they never should have been in the position of leadership as such young ages. There are good reasons why the Church generally prefers to spiritual directors and those in charge of formation to be older, tested, and found to be prudent.

Having said that, there are a lot of new folks here that only recently have begun to put the pieces of the LC/RC mess together. For these folks I would like to recommend three articles that have proven helpful to many who have gone before you in this journey of recovery from LC/RC:

Jesuit obedience and the Legionaries of Christ (written by a young, orthodox Jesuit who was briefly with the Legion):
http://underachindolea.blogspot.ca/2009/02/jesuit-obedience-and-legionaries-of.html

Sifting Wheat from the Tares: 20 signs of trouble in a new religious group (an article I wrote for the International Cultic Studies Association explaining 20 red flags canon lawyers look for when evaluating new Catholic movements:
http://underachindolea.blogspot.ca/2009/02/jesuit-obedience-and-legionaries-of.html

Veteran LC wrestles with the Maciel scandal (One of more helpful and interesting stories to arise was the pseudonymous Fr. Changobeer, LC's journey from hardcore Maciel apologist to one of the most prophetic critics of Maciel and the movement. This change took place over several blog entries over several years. In the following article, I took links to Fr. Changobeer's various posts on MM/LC/RC and put them in chronological order):

http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/2010/03/a-veteran-lc-tr.html

[Pete Vere]

My apologies for posting the same link twice. Here's the proper URL for the sifting wheat from tares article (scroll down after clicking through): http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_articles/vere_peter_whatcanonlawyerslookfor_0402.htm

[Deirdre Mundy]

I was just thinking about the people who still cling fast to the Legion, and I realized that it's a lot like the scene in Augustine's confessions where Monica begs the bishop to talk to her son and reason him out of the cult. The bishop refuses---not because he thinks that Augustine should remain a manichee, but because Augustine isn't ready to hear yet. It will take more time, and more prayers, and more grace before he can understand the truth of what his mother has been saying...

For those still in, we're in Monica's position. And perhaps the Vatican doesn't speak more clearly because those attached to the Legion are not yet ready to hear and understand.

(Feeling a bit glum today, as I think of, and pray for, all those ensnared. Especially the youth who've never had a relationship with Christ or the Church that wasn't mediated by the Legion.)

[Savannah]

Deirdre, To say that the parents are the ones who must do something may not work. Remember they may be brainwashed and deep in a cult--how can they possibly understand? The Church is responsible and we must not give them excuses for allowing this atrocity to continue in the name of the Church. Yes, parents are responsible for raising the children--I know what you are saying. But I think of my friends who are still in RC and there is just no explaining to them--not even when appealing to their sense of needing to protect their children. They simply cannot or do not want to see what is so clear to those on the outside.