Seeking A Superior And A Long Lost Peace

The real challenge will be to regain the serenity lost in an internal crisis that some members have been unable to withstand, falling into chronic physical illness or depression.

According to an article written by Andres Beltramo Alvarez in The Vatican Insider La Stampa Click Here for article the 3gf women of Regnum Christi are in the midst of seeking a new leader to replace Malen Oriol, who departed suddenly earlier in 2012 to form Totus Tuus, a separate religious movement in Chile. The article states that the 3gf women (reportedly over 700 in number) around the world are choosing a new leader plus four territorial leaders.

Regnum Christi is planning to establish a government that will consist of a Superior General who will take over from Agostino Montan (temporary replacement for Malen Oriol) and who will be assisted by new Territorial Directors. The selection of all of these positions is being done by a mail-in election. During the month of April, each of the 3gf women made her selections and mailed in the names to Rome in a sealed envelope.

The writer of the article claims that members of the movement are showing signs of suffering (from the current state of crisis) and that they feel insecure because of the various intrigues that were going on and suffering from illness and depression. The first paragraph actually mentions chronic physical illness or depression.
The author of the article states that DePaolis pushed for some changes in the movement but then lost control of the situation.

ReGAIN Comment:
The article paints a disturbing picture of the present situation for the 3gf women and for the Vatican delegate, Cardinal Velasio DePaolis and raises some interesting questions regarding the future of the Regnum Christi movement.

The first thing that jumps off the page is the mention of chronic physical illness and depression,

Since the Vatican commissioner took over leadership of Regnum Christi, has anything been done to improve the availability of medical treatment for the women? In the past there have been horror stories of someone in house being appointed to dispense aspirins and other over the counter remedies as a first line of treatment. When that was inadequate there were some volunteer doctors available to provide medical treatment. Unfortunately, the women were not covered by a regular health protection plan and in many cases were required to take their chances with whomever and whatever was available.

Now that there are a significant number of the 3gf women suffering from chronic physical illness and depression, are they receiving proper medical treatment for this? Have the current leaders brought in psychological counselors to deal with cases of depression or do the women just have to tough it out. Failure to provide adequate treatment could lead to more severe cases and possibly cases of suicide.

The topic of leadership raises a significant question regarding the spirituality of Regnum Christi. It will be healthy for the women to have new leaders to govern the administrative aspects of their organization. But who will be their spiritual guides and what will it be based on? There is no escape from the fact that their founder was proven to be a false prophet. In the Book Matthew 7:15, Jesus warns us to beware of false prophets. So it is obvious that the reorganized religious movement would be foolish to choose Father Marcial Maciel’s (false prophet) teachings as a guide to devote their lives to.

If the founder, who was said by the Vatican to be immoral and whose life was devoid of scruple and of genuine religious sentiment has been proven to be a false prophet, can there be anything from his teachings and rule that could be worthy of using as a basis for religious life? If not him, then who within the existing organization is there to step forward and become a true prophet, who could develop a unique spirituality and lead an exemplary life to be emulated by the others?

Is it reasonable for a young woman to give up everything she has in life including her sexuality, her free will and all of her money to become part of a religious group that offers little or nothing in the way of unique spirituality, inadequate provision for health insurance coverage and lack of provision for her senior years?

In recent years, the 3gf women discovered that their form of consecration was not recognized by the Roman Catholic Church even though they had been convinced over the years that the Vatican had approved everything to do with their way of life. Then they discovered that they had been deceived regarding the contents of the constitutional document that had actually been approved by the Vatican in 2004. Most of the norms and rules they had been obliged to follow had definitely not been included in the skimpy document that was approved in 2004.

In 2009, after the bombshell dropped about the fraudulent life of the founder they had idolized for so long they never skipped a beat in their recruiting and fund raising activities. There was little provision for them to mourn or to take some time out to reevaluate things or to think about the significance of what had happened. They were simply kept busy as always as if nothing had happened. When their (absolute) ruler became disgraced, there was not a new spiritual leader to replace him.

How confusing that must have been. At the time, in 2009, according to their restrictive rules and demanding schedules there was little time to think and little opportunity to openly discuss among themselves what was going on. The reform process, although painfully slow has resulted in enough positive changes that the 3gf women are now allowed to speak to each other to share their concerns and feelings and they have more access to the outside world and to their families. Now that they are being exposed to some of the horrendous truth is it any wonder that many of them are suffering from mental, physical and emotional illnesses?

Has their leadership provided adequate recognition of their situation and made adequate provision to promote healing? It is difficult to tell from the outside. However, from the information that has been provided by some of the more vocal ones of those who have left it would seem that the leaders have for the most part continued their damage control and obfuscation. The leaders have tried to soften the blow regarding their disgraced leader by emphasizing that he had a stable relationship with his women and children and deemphasized that he had more than one stable relationship at a time and that he had almost certainly over the years molested many children. Those who wished were encouraged to keep their pictures of the founder in their wallets and purses.

It was obvious from the wording of the Vatican communique in 2010 that the founder had acted deceptively and fraudulently. It is less obvious that the fraud and deception has continued after his death because the emphasis on the reform process has been focused on the immoral actions of Father Marcial Maciel and never on the current leaders even though they were selected and trained by him.

Statements made by Nieves Garcia Horcaja when she departed were quoted in the article in the Vatican Insider that provide strong evidence that there is still deception in the Legion and Regnum Christi from the existing leaders even with the Vatican overseeing them. She stated bluntly: I saw that there was a group of superiors who were not willing to seek the truth. The deception is not likely to improve after Cardinal DePaolis decides his work is done.

So, the newly elected leaders for Regnum Christi will certainly have their work cut out for them. In some ways they will have to pick themselves up by their own bootstraps to not simple replace previous leaders but to build a religious movement from square one, develop a charism, provide saintly example, develop an authentic form of consecration and make radical changes in direction all the while dealing with the chaos confusion including chronic illnesses and depression. There is another handicap that will be like a huge ball and chain impeding every step. Like a Siamese twin, Regnum Christi is joined at the hip to the Legionaries of Christ, having identical founders, charism (or lack of) and sharing the same pot of money.

We have not been hearing the party line that God is able to draw straight with crooked lines as much lately but that may be their only hope at this stage because some of the lines they are trying to draw with are badly twisted.

At ReGAIN, we support the 3gf women with our prayers and our thoughts and genuine concern. We believe that they are generally good and devout women who genuinely wish to serve God. We have no axe to grind with the women and believe they were of good character and formed in their faith before they became involved with Regnum Christi. We wish to emphasize that it is the (cult like) structure of the Legion and Regnum Christi, their hidden agendas and their manipulation and excessive control of people such as the 3gf women that motivate us to bring the truth that shall set people free. We wish for the 3gf women to ReGAIN their lost serenity that La Stampa refers to.