The Legion was not long in coming up with a response to the recent plea written by current Legionary Andres Beltramo to his Legionary brothers entitled 10 Reasons Not to Believe In The Legionary Hierarchy
. Sacred and Profane were given permission to publicize this letter on their blog.
Click Here for Legion Response to Ten Reasons
The Legion response written by Jorge Enrique Mugica, L.C. does not respond to any of the claims made in the 10 Reasons document. There seems to be no attempt to deny the statements made by Andres Beltramo, such as the continuing devotion to the founder, (who has been identified as a false prophet), the lack of community discernment, the culture of control, the lack of transparency, ignoring the May 1 commuiqué and inability to implement positive changes.
The Legion response seems to be one of their typical flowery, empty, meaningless, nauseating series of statements devoid of any real spirituality. A recovering ex Legionary, who had been exposed to the Legion ways for years has identified that beneath the surface there is some loaded language that for the Legion and Regnum Christi members conveys a powerful message to discourage them from daring to question their leadership. The wording of the response is not intended to convince outsiders that any of the statements claimed in the 10 Reasons document are in error. The Legion leaders’ message is directed at the rank and file to prevent them from any critical thinking.
The Legion members and 3gf’s have been conditioned to believe strongly that when a superior speaks it is to be accepted as if Christ Himself were speaking to them. Fr. Mugica asserts the authority of Legionary and RC superiors in a parent to child communication style, first assuring them that he loves Christ, he loves the Church and that it was the Church who provided a delegate
(not a commissioner) to provide guidance for the Legion. He goes on to say that the Pope has placed his trust in the delegate and his four counselors. There is an unspoken message that because everything the Legion leaders do or say is supported by Jesus, His Church, the Pope and because the leaders love Jesus, His Church and the Pope that there is no possibility of error in their decisions. The obvious conclusion (but only for those who live in this climate of thought reform) is that the leaders are infallible and never to be questioned.
The loaded language to those in submission is that if you question superiors in the Legion or Regnum Christi you not only are risking losing your special vocation that God has called you to from all eternity, you are risking your relationship with Christ, with the Church and with the Legion which has support from the Pope through his delegate and counselors.
Rather than share any facts that he has with rank and file members, he makes it clear that in order to make an informed opinion about any criticism, you must humbly enter into dialogue with all the Legionary members involved in an atmosphere of love. Father knows best.
Instead of dealing with specific issues, the response brushes off valid criticism asopinions of the moment
and says that religious and consecrated people should instead listen to the Holy Spirit. It is difficult to listen to the Holy Spirit when you live in a tightly controlled climate of secrecy and deception where all access to outside information is screened. It is obvious that a person could be more in tune with the Holy Spirit if he or she were provided with the truth about things related to their personal mission in life.
Legion and RC members are assured that perhaps there has been fear, but Christ said not to fear, that He is with us.
Therefore anyone who feels any (normal) fear about the future considering all that has happened simply has a lack of trust in Christ.
And using a Macielistic tactic to support his approach to finding the optimum solution he emphasizes that he spends lots of time in front of the Tabernacle before finalizing decisions. The implication here is that whatever final decisions he and the other Legion leaders come up with, they have a seal of approval from Christ Himself (and therefore there is no room for further discussion).
He fails to mention that Fr. Maciel made similar claims regarding making decisions in front of the Blessed Sacrament (and it would be a stretch to believe that his decisions were divinely inspired). The decisions made by the Legion since the departure and death of Fr Maciel so far have not shown much improvement considering the 10 reasons provided by Andres Beltramo. In fact the only few positive changes so far have not resulted because of Legion leadership desire to improve. They have shown a desire to continue the old ways until the Vatican forces them to make positive changes.
When repeated mention of Christ
is made in Legion language, it raises a question about whether there is a hidden meaning that relates to the founder, who wrote a book entitledChrist is My Life
. Is there some sort of subliminal relationship between Christ
and Marcial Maciel Is Christ
Fr. Maciel’s life? Fr. Maciel was idolized by his followers during most of his life and this continues among his more devoted followers. When he was sentenced by the Vatican he made an association with Christ by saying that he would accept his cross in the same way. The term Christ
is a title, meaning Messiah
. Wikipedia explains that this is so and goes on to say that the term Christ usually refers explicitly to Jesus of Nazareth. Is there confusion in the minds and hearts of any of Fr. Maciel’s followers today, who for decades by their statutes were bound to integrate his mind and spirit deep into their own? Jesus
is the Name of Our Saviour. Christ is His title. Could this be an explanation why many of Fr Maciel’s followers including Legionary leaders stubbornly refuse to accept obvious facts about his true character?
Finally, in the response there is a statement that to improve the world, he seeks to convert himself and to become holy. The implied directive here is for the rank and file members to do the same. Forget about any criticisms or doubts. Just immerse yourselves in your prayer life and concentrate on spiritual things. Don’t think!
For those on the outside who are not bound by vows of obedience to the Legion leadership, the response makes no attempt to refute or even to recognize the unhealthy conditions inside the Legion.
ReGAIN editors agree with current Legionary Andres Beltramo that the Legion major superiors have shown that they are unable to think for themselves and / or to change except where they are forced to by the media or by the Vatican. There has been a defensive wall of steel to maintain the status quo. The situation warrants a major change in leadership. There should be a renunciation of the founder and all of his teachings instead of continuing any idolization of this false prophet. There needs to be free access to accurate information for all those whose lives are affected.
But as long as the leadership is able to maintain control of rank and file members by enslavement through mind control methods (well documented on this website) and as long as the Vatican and its delegate allow these practices to continue there will not likely be any progress in the situation. In the meantime, some improvement is being made by attrition as Legionary activities fold, donations decrease and an increasing number have been able to wake up and smell the coffee.