Deception, contradictions with Church doctrine, loss of critical thinking ability, stifling rules, total surrender of free will and conscience, mindless obedience, withholding of important information, justification of white lies
because the ends justify the means
, spying on others leading to a form of slander, lack of trust, lack of concern about members? health or need for rest, constant excessive work load, spiritual arrogance, false charity, dictatorial form of governance. These are some of the reasons provided as reasons for leaving consecrated life in Regnum Christi after 25 years of religious life in a letter from an anonymous consecrated woman that has been posted on El Trastevere Blog at: Click Here to See Letter in Spanish A Googelle English translation is provided on life-after-rc at Click Here For (Rough) English Translation
ReGAIN cannot verify the authenticity of the letter because the writer?s identity is being protected. However, all the issues raised in the letter are typical of those mentioned in the many previous articles and testimonies here on the ReGAIN website.
The consecrated woman who wrote this letter mentions her sense of relief and the moral freedom she experienced when she learned from Fr. Luis Garza (in 2009) about the immoral life of their founder, Fr. Marcial Maciel, after he had been held up as a flawless example for so many years. She realized that her ability to discern and think had been overruled by her obligation to offer excessive obedience to her superiors and especially to the founder. Her promises of obedience and charity prevented her from critical thinking. To criticize the founder had been considered unthinkably wrong on several levels because of the structure of her movement that required blind obedience to her superiors over and above her promises.
After the consecrated women were advised that they were free to have outside spiritual directors, those who wished to do so found that there was no practical way of implementing this freedom. The structure they lived in (e.g. solemn promises of poverty and obedience and their constitution and rules) did not provide a means for them to go back and forth to an outside spiritual director.
The writer comments that in spite of the strong wording of the Vatican communiqué on May 1, 2010 so far there have been only superficial changes. Click Here To See Vatican Communique The writer questioned how the founder who according to the Vatican communique led a life devoid of scruples and true religious sentiment had been allowed to shape the way so many of his followers think and behave for 64 years.
ReGAIN editors and other friends who are close to the situation share this lady?s concerns about the way the renewal
has proceeded so far.
One of the key issues identified in the 2010 communique was the need to review the exercise of authority, which must be joined to truth, so as to respect consciences
. The letter provides personal testimony that the oppressing demand for obedience and (false) charity (still) trumps a person?s God given gift of free will. The letter serves to indicate that the control of peoples? thinking and behaviour by their superiors has not yet changed significantly.
The mental, emotional and spiritual anguish that are expressed in the letter are heart wrenching for those who have personally experienced these conditions or for those who still have family members who remain.
The issues raised in the letter point out the devastating effects of mind control in a spiritually destructive environment.
For more information about mind control Click Here For ReGAIN Article
We wonder how a person who has devoted so many years of her life to serve an unscrupulous megalomaniac?s false and self serving dream will be able to make such a dramatic adjustment to a new life outside of her isolated environment. In this case after 25 years of absolute poverty, it would be difficult to make a new start unless there is financial support from family members or outside friends (whom she has been isolated from for years). We know that she will carry emotional scars from her experience for many years and will be challenged to put the pieces of her spiritual life back together.
Should the Legion (with estimated assets of $30 billion) or Regnum Christi have some obligation to provide assistance to those who have given everything they had, sincerely believing that they were brides of Jesus?
It is difficult for outsiders to know what it is like on the inside because of the extreme secrecy. It is only from the stories that we hear from those who share their testimonies when they leave that the outside world can discover what goes on behind closed doors. These stories tell of injustice that has gone on for too long and now there needs to be a real renewal over and above the modifications to the constitution that are being planned over a long term.