life-after-RC

"I trust in our papal delegate"

This speaks for itself:

On August 7, 2012, I celebrated my 20th anniversary of consecrating my life to Christ.  Much has happened during those 20 years, discoveries and events that I could never have imagined.  There was sin and pain contrasted by love and joy, failures and difficulties woven through triumphs and accomplishments, darkness and blindness followed by enlightenment and clarity.   Although I didn’t use the words “in good times and bad, for richer and for poor, in sickness and in health, until death do us part…” but isn’t that what I promised Christ, poverty, chastity and obedience?  I love my vocation to be consecrated to Christ in Regnum Christi, despite all our past history of errors, there has been a lot of good.  Personally, I have received so much! I have discovered and known deeply Christ as my best friend, my spouse, my God.  I don’t think I have a right to tell God He made a mistake in calling me to this group or that He should make sure things are done differently or that I will throw in the towel until He straightens things out a bit more.  Humanly, it sure would be nice to have a different past, a simpler future.  However, I continue to believe in the Regnum Christi Movement not because everything is done right but I trust in our papal delegate; and in God’s presence and His capacity to make Himself known through us, despite us!

One of the consecrated set up 20 votive candles on an altar of a small chapel in our house and left me the rite of consecration.  There, with my hands on the altar of sacrifice, I renewed my promises of poverty, chastity and obedience to Christ. Thank you, Jesus, for the grace of perseverance thus far!  Sustain me for another 20 years or until I join you for eternity! Thank you Jesus for your love and friendship, your trust in me despite my weaknesses!

It cannot go unsaid: these consecrations are not recognised by the Church, and do not fit the prescribed norms that apply to real Consecrated Virgins.

The consecrated virgin lives in full communion with the Church through her spiritual bond with her Bishop, the representative of Jesus Christ in her diocese; and she shares in the concerns of her diocese through their on-going communication. The consecrated virgin is responsible to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. She receives the sacraments regularly and is faithful to private prayer. She keeps as a special focus of her prayer the intentions of her Bishop and clergy and the needs of her diocese. Consecrated virginity is a distinct form of consecrated life in the Church. Therefore, while it is related to other forms of consecrated life, it is not identical to any of them. The consecrated virgin living in the world, as expressed in Canon 604, is irrevocably "consecrated to God, mystically espoused to Christ and dedicated to the service of the Church, when the diocesan bishop consecrates [her] according to the approved liturgical rite."

ADDENDUM: I'll leave the response to Therese Ivers, JSL, OCV

Allow me to briefly clarify a few things. 

Consecrated Virgins do NOT make promises or vows of any kind to their bishop.  Like a priest, the bishop prays the prayer of consecration over them and they become the Bride of Christ.  The Consecrated Virgin is a member of the Order of Virgins (like a priest whether he's diocesan or religious is in the Order of Presbyters), but it's not a Religious order.  She reports to her bishop directly, who represents Christ to her in her apostolic works. 

A laywoman with private promises is not in the consecrated state.  She *might* be imitating those in the consecrated state (like apostolic society members imitate religious life but remain lay or ordained), but she is not living a Church form of consecrated life (except approved forms and apparently RC is not one because they were approved as a third order kind of movement with LC) and she is not in the consecrated state.

Private vows are just that.  Private.  You can make a private vow to make a pilgrimage to Our lady of Knock shrine.  You can promise poverty, chastity, and obedience (I do NOT recommend this if you are a layperson not attached to any Church recognized group that is capable of receiving the promise - and the RC groups do not qualify as being legitimate superiors to whom one may promise obedience and have these promises received in the name of the Church which is a requirement for consecrated life (not to mention consecrated state which is an entirely different thing altogether).  Your pastor can dispense you from any and all private vows that don't harm the rights of another.  As a matter of fact, I discourage all laywomen who ask from making any private vows of obedience and poverty because it doesn't make sense outside of a communal environment with an authentic superior and the ability to share the burden of administering property.

Again, CVs are not 3gfs nor or 3gfs CVs for the simple reason that they are ontologically different.  CVs do NOT make vows or promises as part of their vocation.  NONE.  They represent the Church.  They are given a special annointing of the Holy Spirit.  They alone specifically share the title of Bride of Christ with the Church (as one CV pointed out in a post at Phatmass.  They are commissioned to be "apostles in the Church and in the world", they are told to do the works of mercy.  They have a special bond with the bishop.  They are in the consecrated state not lay state.  They are consecrated body and soul as a bride of Christ.  None of these things are true of 3gfs.  They are laywomen making private promises to God that in all probability are invalid anyway given the circumstances, bound together in a rather destructive social group with only a slightly higher standing in the Church than the local parish bingo group or the some other random group.  They were not and are not consecrated.  They are dedicated. Consecration comes from the ministry of the Church upon those to be consecrated in approved forms of life or institutes.

I would say the the RC structure - if it were to become a form of consecrated life - would be most similar to a Secular Institute or even a Society of Apostolic Life.  They don't even come close to imitating the Order of Virgins (consecrated virgins).

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

Counting the cost

Literally. This heart-rending account of an ex-3gf uses numbers to illustrate her experience, including:

0 – the number of consecrated who called me and wrote me to see how I was doing once I got home from Mexico. That is also the number of events they invited me to. I tried to start a Regnum Christi group at my college so they would include me, but after crying at one retreat, I never came back. My former directress, Pilar, did all that she could to help me, but I was bound by my Promises of Charity not to speak badly of my spiritual guide, even though I was being psychologically destroyed

and:

150 – the number of Aspirin I took on Sept. 11, 2003 when I could no longer bear the thought that happiness could never be mine as I was not good enough to be consecrated.

I heard that ten of the fourteen graduates of the pre-candidacy high school will go on to become 3gf's in the Regnum Christi Movement. While this testifies to the successful captation that still exists (and the refusal of their parents to consider their long-term wellfare) perhaps someone in these families could bring the 49 Weeks blog to their attention. Everything may look rosy at present, but the testimonies compiled there reveal a "salting of the fields" approach to souls. Those who remain inside become increasingly dead, and those who escape take years to even BEGIN recovery.

That is the fruit of the Legion; that is the devastation they wreak in God's own vineyard. These brave women deserve a hearing, not to mention your prayers and support. Just because the hierarchy doesn't seem to care doesn't hobble us from doing the right thing.

"the beautiful reality"

That is what Regnum Christi is called in the special letter sent from Fr Montan, marking the June 1st start of the new general government:

Dear Consecrated women of Regnum Christi,
Today, June 1 2012, the general government of the Regnum Christi feminine branch of the Third Degree officially begins its service. You already know their names:

- General Coordinator*:	Rodríguez Díaz, Gloria
- 1st Councilor:	Fernández González, Luly
- 2nd Councilor:	Ávila Diaz-Rubín, Mari Carmen
- 3rd Councilor:	Errázuriz Sotomayor, Paula
- 4th Councilor:	Pirie, Mary Patt

For all those who have the beautiful reality of Regnum Christi in their hearts, including the consecrated women, today is a day for joyfully thanking Our Lord and renewing our trust in him.

After a period of uncertainty that has included its share of suffering, the feminine branch of the Third Degree is taking a new and important step along its pathway.

For the first time, it has a general government. Besides being a sign of unity for the group of consecrated women, it is called to promote the Third Degree’s fidelity to the charism of Regnum Christi, and to animate its spiritual life and apostolic commitment. 

In continuity with the preceding norms, the Third Degree had its Regulations, promulgated on Pentecost Sunday, May 27 2012. While remaining provisional, they are a point of reference for regulating the internal life of the members.

Members of the feminine branch of the Third Degree see clearly that they form part of the charismatic family Regnum Christi; but they’re also conscience [sic] of having been given a just autonomy, particularly for their internal governance, since they have their own specificity within the Church.

We need to thank the Pontifical Delegate, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, for the love, intelligence, and prudence with which he is guiding Regnum Christi’s path of renewal in its different branches.

I wish to extend a sincere thanks to the General Coordinator, Gloria Rodríguez, and to her council, Luly, Mary Patt, Mari Carmen and Paula, for accepting their assignments. I am sure that we will sustain their important service with our prayer.

My gratitude also goes to all of you, consecrated women of the Third Degree. You have lived this period in a spirit of prayer and interior purification. You have sought to verify God’s plan for yourselves and the Third Degree. When your companions, who have accompanied you along your way, have requested dispensation from their promises, you have not remained indifferent. The new government and the territorial Coordinators have begun an attentive reflection about this occurrence. The discernment to follow, which will involve everyone’s participation, will serve to renew the formation processes and configure the characteristics of Regnum Christi consecrated life. 

Dear consecrated women, in a way that I could say is almost unanimous, you have expressed your approval of the persons called by the Cardinal to form the new government. In conferring these positions, we proceeded in a similar way to when appointments were made for the Legionaries. In the first place, the results of the consultations were taken into consideration. Furthermore, we had in mind the directives of the Code of Canon Law (Can. 626; 624 §2) as well as the indications from the document The Service of Authority and Obedience (2008), where it enumerates the responsibilities considered important in the service of authority (#25). I repeat: your acceptance was almost unanimous. Taking into account that a government is evaluated by how it governs and by how it succeeds in getting things done, I believe that we can look forward with well-founded confidence.

The new government will make known the appointments to come. It will also mention the stages and deadlines for the various questions that will be addressed. Inevitably, the complex work awaiting you requires patience and a progressive maturity. For my part, I can let you know that the commission to review the Statutes will be established soon. The work to come is important and will involve each and every one of you. We will strive to give a unanimous identity to an experience that is a gift of the Spirit to his Church. As a reality, Regnum Christi is at the same time one and manifold. One through the identity of spirituality, mission, and the call to perfection; manifold because it includes a diversity of vocations, services and ministries, all oriented toward the achievement of the Kingdom of Our Lord.

Let us renew our confidence in each other. Let us overcome a one-sided vision of the other and the realities in which we are immersed. Let us pause over the demanding text of Saint Paul to the Galatians: “Now the works of the flesh are… hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy […]; the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (5:19-22).

The Holy Father hopes for a positive path of purification and of conversion, which has as its goal the conforming of ourselves to our Lord Jesus Christ.

I wish to assure you that, according to the indications given by the Holy Father, Cardinal De Paolis will continue accompanying you along your pathway.

May the Mother of our Savior accompany us and sustain us.

Fr. Agostino Montan
Josefino del Murialdo

NB: During the month of June, there should be a community encounter of prayer with the theme: “We give thanks to God for the gift of Regnum Christi. May the Lord direct his fatherly gaze to the feminine branch of the Third Degree and grant wisdom and charity to those in authority.”

(*Translator’s note: in the English language it is difficult to find an apt word for the title responsable general. General Coordinator was chosen for lack of a better term.)

Fr Garza's explanation to the exPC's

POST FROM FACEBOOK PC GROUP

Hey Everyone!!

I just wanted to write for those who were not able to make it up to the reunion. It was an amazing weekend. It was really wonderful to see so many people and catch up to see where everyone is at. It was really beautiful and reveling to see and feel the changes that have been taking place with the norms, the whole attitude, and environment in general. The atmosphere was very relaxed. Everyone was able to come as they are and where they are in life and just enjoy time together. The vibe I felt in the PC and Greenville (and from talking to people) is that everything was more relaxed natural and there is a lot less tension and stiffness about the norms. Everyone is just more open and warm.

Below i just summed up what Caroline and Fr Luis Garza said to us in the conferences so that those who would like to know can be filled in:

Jill thank you for posting the updates on the PC. It was great to have the talk with Caroline. She was very gracious and open about what went on within the PC and her experience and point of view. She opened up about how it was hard for her to ask the PCs to live norms that she was not convinced of. She told us that she was vocalizing and making known hardships that PCs and their families were having and things that she thought should have been changed. For some time she was told that things were the way they should be, but finally after some time, they saw the need to re-evaluate the norms. She apologized several times to everyone for any hurt they had experienced as PCs or their families by anything they were asked to do and for pain they have experienced after. She explained she did everything out of love and never intended to hurt anyone. Caroline also expressed her relief that she would no longer be a director as the last years have been very hard on her with a lot of anger from parents and members fall on her. She (and all the consecrated) are very willing and ask you to talk to them if you have any concerns or questions or want to talk about anything at all. Diana Hardy apologized as well and humbly explained that we are all human and make mistakes.

I sat in on the conference with Fr. Luis and I will now sum up what he explained to us: He started in 1998 explaining that he started to notice that Fr. Maciel was distracted and not as ambitious as he normally was about projects or concerns of the movement. He admitted that Fr. maciel was living a lavish life around this time for example, driving fancy cars and staying at luxurious hotels. Fr. Luis picked up on these changes in Fr. maciel but was unsure of the reasons for them. A couple years later they started to see signs of dementia. Fr luis then described how the Vatican asked Fr maciel to lead a more private life out of public ministry and Fr Luis did not understand and to a point did not believe it at the time and the church did not give a reason. When he did find out he explained that they didn’t know how to break the news. they were coming up with plans to tell everyone but they didn’t see a right or best way to go about it. he explained how you have to be prudent in making public someone’s sins. they were working for a while to figure out how to do this. they were not trying to hide it from people. In the end the news broke before they were prepared. He also explained how the cardinal is very thorough in all the changes and evaluations he is doing… which causes the process to be slow, but this is good. They have been working a lot to change the "culture" of the movement as he put it. Our formation centers and apostolate centers were too similar and not fit for what each group needed. He listed some problems of the movement that they are working to fix such as an arrogance of the movement, the stiffness of norms, and changing to work more with families as a whole instead of working individually with boys girls men and women etc.

I hope this helps... Im happy to talk to anyone who wants. I wrote this as best I could from what i remembered.

Love you all!!

I apologise for so many PC threads. While I won't close any for comments, I'll note on the three previous threads that we'll try to congregate here.

FTR, the three related threads include a link to the comment given by a woman planning a PC reunion (which wouldn't allow any negativity), an exPC Facebook group which has a series of testimonies, and a link to a blog which has a serialised account of one exPC's experiences. I'll send readers to this thread for one single conversation, given the wounds now revealed among exPC's and the obstinacy of the Legion/3gf leadership in acknowledging them in a honourable and mature fashion. (We're only human doesn't cut it.)

Making school plans

Parents always need to stay one step ahead, and even though the 2011-12 school year hasn't ended, we're all mulling over the options for next year. With the changes in the Movement, some schools are closing, others combining, and others staying the course. Where will we place our children, we wonder...?

Before anyone considers a boarding school under the watchful eye of Legionaries or 3gf's, kindly consider this testimony of a girl who went to the pre-candidacy in RI. I'll pull just a few segments, beginning when she came home (hoping to return). The bold is my own:

I woke up the next morning a different person.  I had left home as bubbly, happy, irrepressible, irresponsible 14-year-old.  I came back a much older, sadder, more serious, and shyer 16-year-old.  I was coming back to a different family, too -- I now had a younger brother.  Everything seemed weird and different -- like it wasn't at all the family I had left, but a new family I was going to have to adjust to...

[If my parents yelled at me or criticised me} I could clearly see that their anger was more about what was going on in their own lives than it was about  me.  They weren't saying calculated things to "test" me.  They were just doing their thing, and sometimes they weren't as gentle as they could have been.  It no longer bothered me.  I realized that I had had a lot more "harshness" from my formators than I had ever had from my family.  Besides, I had changed overnight from the girl who dissolved into tears over everything.  I felt like I had no feelings at all.  I felt annoyed when people looked for an emotional connection with me, trying to share feelings or hug me.  I didn't want to be touched anymore.  And my feelings were a shameful thing I didn't want to share...

Pretty soon even I was able to recognize that I was deeply depressed.  The only emotion I felt was a deep misery and loneliness.  I called up the one former classmate whose number I had.  She was very understanding.  "When does it get better?" I asked.  "I'll let you know," she said.  She told me of others who had turned to alcohol or drugs to numb the pain after going home.  I was shocked...

The other person [who saved me] was my little brother.  It was so different to have someone who needed me.  No longer was I "forming myself" just for the sake of forming myself.  I had to smile even if I felt sad, not because it was the right thing to do, but because Joseph needed a smile from me.  I had to leap up and help, not because I had been assigned to help, but because he needed help right then and couldn't wait.  He was generous with smiles, appreciation, and hugs.  I didn't feel comfortable hugging anyone but him, but he reintroduced me to the world of touch and it was so comforting.

This is a young woman who came home, only to find that she had been lied to -- she wouldn't be invited back, although she worked hard on the things they told her that would enable her to stay. Imagine the ones who stayed. Read it and see what you can do to make healthy decisions for your children, and bring this information to light for others.

ADDENDUM: I'll add a few more excerpts, below.

Blog for exPC's

"Mercy" kindly points out that there is a tremendous new blog which has the potential to be very helpful for those who spent time in the pre-candidacy:

This blog is an account of the experiences of former Precandidates of the Regnum Christi Movement.  Many of us suffered real mental and emotional damage in our years at Immaculate Conception Academy.  We share our stories here to warn parents of the very real dangers of handing your daughters over to this flawed institution.  What you see when your daughters come home for a week at Christmas and two weeks in the summer is not what happens the other 49 weeks of the year.

It offers brutally honest testimonies of former students, and mature efforts to dissect their experiences. While anyone can comment, the posts themselves seem to have been offered through a private Facebook account. Kudos for the initiative, and prayers for further healing of this generous group of young women.

ADDENDUM: Longtime reader Deirdre Mundy kindly breaks down the strategy into bite-sized pieces.

1. They isolated the girls from their peers and families at a very vulnerable age (when a girl's allegience is normally shifting from family-oriented to peer-oriented);

2. They redirected this natural shift so that the allegience would shift to the 3gF leaders, in the absence of anyone else to serve as a role model or companion;

3. They forbid the sort of close friendships that usually sustain and strengthen girls in their teen years, and replaced them with a reliance on Maciel's conception of Jesus (which overlapped with himself to a high degree);

4. They then worked to instill in the girls that they weren't good enough or loveable enough and that they had to work harder to be likeable enough for God (i.e. the anecdote about reading "How to Win Friends and Influence People" in order to transform oneself into 3gF material);

5. They were fed a sort of Pelagianism--that their own efforts, actions, and results were what made them holy;

6. They were constantly beaten down in secret, but told to plaster a smile on in public, so each broken girl faced a mass of 'serenity.' This ensured they all suffered alone, without support;

7. When they left, they were told it was their own fault.

None of this was accidental. It was all written into the system. PC was DESIGNED to break these girls and hurt them and abuse them.

Meet the new RC leaders

The heads of 3gm's and 3gf's are as follows:

The papal delegate who has been governing the Legionaries of Christ has appointed new for the order’s lay branches.

Cardinal Velasio De Paolis has been governing the Legionaries and the affiliated lay branches since 2010. This week he appointed new leaders to head the consecrated men’s and women’s lay branches. He also appointed vice-directors and council members. The appointments were made public Thursday, May 17.

The new leader of the men’s branch is 48 year old Spaniard, Jorge Lopez, who is currently rector of the University of Anahuac in Mexico.

Lopez entered became a consecrated member of Regnum Christi in 1981. He holds a bachelor’s degree and licentiate in economic sciences. He was vice director of the formation centre for consecrated men in Spain, and has served in various directorial capacities for Regnum Christi in Mexico. Lopez also found time to pursue graduate studies. He holds two doctorates, one in Administration theory and culture and one in Education.

Another Spaniard, Glora Rodriguez, will take over as head of the women’s branch of Regnum Christi. Rodriguez is also a native of Madrid. She graduated from the Regnum Christi-run preparatory school Colegio Everest in that city and became a consecrated member of Regnum Christi in 1998. She completed her formation at the Monterrey Formation Centre. Subsequently Rodriguez served as vice-director of the movement’s centre for students, then as director of the centre for consecrated women in Barcelona while running the Colegio Highlands preparatory school. She is currently director of the centre for consecrated women in Duseldorf, Germany and assistant director for the west and central Europe region of Regnum Christi.

Another obstacle to reform

From the indefatigable Nicole Winfield:

Two years in, the logistical process of rewriting the constitutions is going ahead. And just this week - on the same day the Williams revelations made headlines - De Paolis announced that he had named new leaders for the Legion's female branch to help shepherd it through a process of reform as well.

But in yet another indication that the process is anything but linear, none of the members selected by De Paolis are considered reformers, with most, if not all, of them strongly linked to the old guard leadership and with little experience in the field.

Former members of the so-called consecrated branch of the Legion say De Paolis' choices don't reflect the results of the voting undertaken by current members to choose their own leaders. They predicted a new exodus of members frustrated that their efforts to reform had again been rebuffed.

"I believe this will generate numerous and significant desertions," said Nelly Ramirez, a former consecrated woman who left in 2009 and has written a book about her experiences.

The takeaway is:

• The Legion modus operandi cannot stand up to scrutiny (and I'm including the Cardinal's actions in that MO, since he has clearly adopted their methodology);
• With the previous veil of secrecy, a breach of trust like this would have passed without notice;
• Even if previously the women had suspected that their wishes were entirely ignored, they would have taken it in stride, swallowing their indignation with a heavy dose of humility, assuming that Jesus was testing them through their divinely appointed superiors;
• There must be a reason why the Cardinal ignored the election and chose malleable leaders, which makes his leadership completely unworkable;
• Without leaders that the women can trust, their future is dimmer than ever -- but may lead to action that will separate even more of them from an environment hostile to basic human dignities;
• Finally, this reminds us of the overarching misogyny that has marked this Congregation, using the women for the private ends of the group by means of unapproved statutes and manipulative norms. Perhaps this will remind the Church of the dangers of maintaining quasi-religious communities that cannot be adequately protected by canon law -- God willing, we'll see significant and lasting changes for the good of all.

3gf is evidently not "on the right track"

Evidently there are too many members who are questioning current events, asking for explanations. Not to worry, they are being expelled so that ranks regain their serenity.

Not without some amazement have we heard these that some women consecrated within the Regnum Christi have been "sent home" with their families, and that without their approval "have been granted dispensation from their promises of a life consecrated to God." We are specifically talking about three consecrated women residing in the city of Monterrey (Mexico). One of them, Marcela with nearly 30 years of consecrated life, another person, Lourdes has around 19 or 20 years of consecrated life, the third, Yuri is a few years younger and consecrated to God in the Regnum Christi.

Have they broken their promises? Have they caused scandals within and outside their community? Have they committed a civil offense? Have they visibly or externally undermined their love for Christ? Betrayed the Church, the Pope or his doctrine? To our knowledge, no. These women were called to account for plainly and bravely requesting clarity, and for asking awkward questions in recent years of the Movement after the scandals of its founder. And because of the lack of clarity about two communications reported by the Holy See in relation to their movement, these women, relying on their religious family, had the temerity to request explanations. What was the outcome? Now they are at home, we hope that they are attended and supported by their families, we do not know if they have it, but there is no doubt that they will be supported by the prolific and constant prayer of the Mystical Body of the Church.

Those who remain have a clear choice to make: stand with their fellow 3gf's, treated so shabbily in return for a just request, or to stand with the superiors who cannot afford the necessary transparency about current events. Nota bene: authentic reform requires honesty about existing problems. This constitutes a problem. No action plan or holy hour can fix this -- it demands integrity and accountability. Enough of the pious talk and weeping over "the Cross." Amend your way of life or face the consequences.