Legion - Holy See Orders Apostolic Visitation

Today, Regnum Christi posted an announcement confirming that the Holy See has ordered an Apostolic Visitation of the "institutions of the Legionaries of Christ" that is likely to commence after Easter.  The announcement included two letters: one from Father Alvaro Corcuera, the Director General of the Legionaries of Christ, and a second from  the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. 

Notably, the letter from Cardinal Bertone is dated March 10 [Just learned this date is the birthday of Father Maciel, and was once marked with annual celebrations in the Legion], underscoring the fact that the Legion has taken time to absorb the Holy See's decision and establish a plan to communicate that decision to its members. Though many Catholics expected an updated annoucement from the order to include explicit information regarding the founder's misdeeds, neither letter confirms the substance of previous allegation against Father Maciel, nor do they provide any additional information regarding his past actions that placed the order's future in doubt.

Father Corcuera states that he has "thanked the Holy Father from my heart for offering us this additional help to face our present vicissitudes related to the grave facts in our father founder’s life that already were the object of the investigations of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which were concluded in May of 2006, and those which have come to light more recently. We are deeply saddened and sorry, and we sincerely ask for forgiveness from God and from those who have been hurt through this."

Both letters seek to underscore the Holy See's on-going support for the order. However, a number of critical questions remain unanswered. The letters do not identify  who will direct the visitation and investigate the actions of any superiors who might have abetted the founder's misdeeds. Further, the letters do not identify who will guide the process from the Vatican , or whether the Legionaries will be managed by an apostolic delegate until the investigation reaches a conclusion-- as some critics have suggested.  Today, a Zenit news story on the issue noted that the Holy Father would appoint a "team of prelates" for the visitation, but did not identify specific cardinals.

Last month, after the news about Father Maciel's double life surfaced in the media, George Weigel argued for a "full audit" of the order. Wrote Weigel:

"[T]hat audit cannot be conducted by the Legion leadership, which is likely beset by a maelstrom of internal and external pressures. It must be mandated by the pope, and it must be conducted by someone responsible to the pope alone—not responsible to the relevant parts of the Vatican bureaucracy, not responsible to the cardinal secretary of state, but responsible to the pope alone. There is simply no other way open to an accounting that will be both scrupulously honest and publicly credible.

"To take an image from corporate law, the Legion of Christ must be immediately put into receivership: A personal delegate, appointed by the pope, must be empowered to take over the governance of the Legion of Christ and to conduct the moral and institutional audit required. The papal delegate would be instructed to report his findings, both interim and final, to the pope alone, and he would be instructed to make recommendations (again, to the pope alone) addressing the possible futures, including dissolution or dissolution-and-reconstitution, of the Legion."

But Austin Ruse was more cautious about prescribing such a plan in his commentary on the Legion's woes.

Postscript: Here is a National Catholic Reporter  update on the proposed Apostolic Visitation. It cites unnamed Vatican sources suggesting that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will direct the investigation, in part, because the CDF managed the previous investigation of Father Maciel that led Pope Benedict to banish him from public ministry. It also suggests that if the pope intended  to pursue more drastic measures, such as suppressing the Legion, he would have deposed Father Corcuera, the present director general. Thus, the implication is that the Vatican plans to adopt a modified resolution. In my own research on this issue, one high-placed, sympathetic diocesan official told me that Rome was indeed more likely to provide "heavy coaching" for Legion superiors that would help them gradually rework problematic areas.  

The NCR article said that unnamed Legionaries were "relieved" to learn the news about the impending Apostolic Visitation. However, a knowledgeable contact of mine in Rome expressed pessimism regarding the long-term impact of a more limited investigation, arguing that high-placed individuals in the Vatican and in the Legion would continue to resist any public accounting. 

Here's a Reuter's story underscoring one reason why some in the Legion may fear transparency: more allegations of abuse involving additional perpetrators are likely to surface. 

Postscript: John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter interviews Archbishop O'Brien again on the Legion. Essentially, the Baltimore archbishop reviews several points he has raised before with Allen and others. The fact that he is keeping up the pressure suggests that he has not received enough assurance that the investigation will incorporate a thorough review of the complex relationship between the founder's double life and the development of the Legion's charism and institutional practices.