“Saints should be judged guilty until they are proven
innocent,” George Orwell rather cynically observed. Sadly
enough in the case of the late Father Marcial Maciel,
founder of the Legion of Christ Orwell’s cynicism is well
placed. As far back as 1997 allegations of abuse were
publicly made against Father Maciel and in 2006 he was
asked by Rome to retire to a life of prayer and penitence,
relinquishing leadership of the Legion of Christ. Father
Maciel died in 2008 and earlier this year the Legion
announced the findings of its investigation that Father
Maciel had indeed led a double life, having had a mistress
by whom he fathered a child. This, although quite different
from the initial allegations made against Father Maciel, has
cast a dim light on the Legion of Christ and its lay branch
Regnum Christi, resulting in calls for an outside audit of the
Legion and even for its dissolution. The sense of
disappointment, hurt and betrayal both within and without
the Legion is incalculable.
The growth of the Legion since its 1941 founding in
Mexico has been nothing short of amazing. There are
today 850 Legionnaire priests worldwide and 1,000
consecrated women. As with Opus Dei people either love
it or hate it. There seems to be no middle ground. My own
experience of the Legion has been exceptionally positive.
The Legionnaire priests that I know are, without exception,
intelligent, energetic and devout men who are striving for
holiness. One of them heard confessions for 24 hours
straight in St. Peters Square as Pope John Paul II was
dying and the immense crowds of people from all over
gathered before his window. I am proud to call them
friends and grateful for the help they have afforded me over
the years in administering the Sacraments to the parish.
When I think of the Legion of Christ I think not of Father
Maciel, but of these truly outstanding priests who serve
Christ without fear or reproach.
The sad case of Father Maciel should awaken us to the
realization that even those who seem to be the best among
us may still be vulnerable to temptation. It should serve as
a warning to us all and remind us of how much each of us,
individually is in the need of Christ’s loving mercy. While
we should not seek to overlook or excuse Father Maciel’s
sin, neither should we allow it to eclipse the good work the
Legion of Christ has done in spreading the Gospel. As
great as his sin was our Lord may still – in a way as yet
unimagined – bring some good out of it.
The main character of Graham Greene’s novel, The
Power and the Glory is not named but known only by his
weakness, referred to as the Whisky Priest. On the run
from an anti-clerical government, the Whisky Priest had
fallen in a similar way to Father Maciel and fathered a child.
Throughout the novel the Whisky Priest agonizes over his
sin while at the same time marvels at the beauty and
wonder of the child, and in one instance the child of his sin
proves to be his salvation. In the end the Whisky Priest is
martyred and his sin is washed away by his blood mingled
with that of Christ. God does write straight with crooked
lines; let us put our trust in Him. We should also pray for
healing within the Legion of Christ and for all who have
been hurt by Father Maciel. And in true Christian Charity
we should pray for the soul of Father Marcial Maciel. May
God have mercy on us all. .