Part Two: The Legion of Christ Avoids Compensating Victims of Sexual Abuse by its Founder, Father Marcial Maciel.

 

March 4, 2021, under the patronage of Apostle Nathanael

 

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said of him, ‘There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit’                                                                   John 1,47

 

Responding to concerns of our readership, we  will try to clarify statements made in Part 1.

 

The current director general of the Legion of Christ/Federation Regnum Christi, Father John Connor, has not yet met personally with The Group of Victims of Sexual Abuse at the hands of their founder, Father Maciel.

 

1. The original number of eight complainants has been reduced to six due to the deaths of Mr. Fernando Pérez Olvera in late 2020 and Father Félix Alarcón in 2021:

 

1. 1. José de J. Barba Martín
   2.  Saul Barrales Arellano (seriously ill)
   3. Alejandro Espinosa Alcalá (extreme financial hardship)
   4. Arturo Jurado Guzmán (ill)
   5. José Antonio Pérez Olvera (extreme financial hardship)
   6. Francisco González Parga, who was not of the original group of 1997 but who bore his testimony before the prosecutor, promoter iustitiae, of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Monsignor Charles Scicluna in CDMX April 2005 – and who would come to replace Juan José Vaca who received compensation several years ago directly from Father Alvaro Corcuera, Q.E.P.D., then director general of the Legion of Christ.

 

2. Father Eduardo Robles Gil, LC, not Fr. Connor, was the one who met three times with representatives of the group – Barba, Pérez Olvera and Jurado – at a CDMX hotel between late December 2019 and early January 2020, in the presence of a legal mediator. He was accompanied by Father Simán, LC (he of the calculator).

 

3. A letter with three requests was submitted in writing to Father Robles Gil:
   • Reparation  of the moral damages of the group by the Legion of Christ in 1997: The Legion motivated three men of their trust (AA, JLG, VV) to bear false testimony against the victims, claiming that they lied and formed a conspiracy against innocent Father Maciel. At the same time, the Legion of Christ forged letters (a ruse often used by Father Maciel) from an elderly Chilean bishop to strengthen Father Maciel’s defense in the Hartford Courant newspaper.
   • Reach an agreement through a panel representing both sides to agree on the amount of financial compensation for victims.
   • To notify the representative of the group, Dr. José Barba Martín, of any communications the Legion might have with the victims. (To ensure the honesty of negotiations and avoid divisions.)
     • • • The letter was delivered to Father Robles Gil and signed as received by him in the presence of witnesses.
         • The Legion required the three victims to sign a (unilateral?) confidentiality document.

 

4. During the general chapter of the Legion of Christ in Rome in January 2020 the change of director general was made, with Father John Connor being elected. He sent an email to Dr. Barba in January explaining that he had been elected and that the Legion saw it as a priority to solve the problem of the victims (at least those in question; it was not clear whether he had the other victims of Father Maciel recognized by the Legion in mind). -Hence the reference in the first part to the chapter documents already mentioned.- Fr. Connor alluded to his knowledge of Father Robles Gil’s CDMX encounters with the victims. He did not say directly that he had seen such a letter or that he had read it. The reader might suspect that this was about two legionnaires passing the hot potato. Moreover, the lack of clarity – not to say confusion – and the lack of coordination of the leadership gave Father Connor time to think about how to proceed in such a delicate matter.

 

5. In the first part of the article, we accused Father Connor of putting loyal correspondence with Dr. Barba and the group of victims to one side, preferring to launch his astute personal crusade to win over the remaining victims,  approaching them individually with the Easter Egg trick- a five-thousand-dollar-small cannonade- to soften them, divide the group of victims, and  drive the members away from Dr. Barba’s leadership. Barba  remains incorruptible and has stood firm regarding the fair  conditions  of an arrangement with the leaders of the Legion/Regnum.

 

6. Early this year when Dr. Barba reminded Father Connor that a whole year had gone by without the Legion responding to the Father Robles Gil letter, Father Connor replied that Dr. Barba’s letter and requests are “too sophisticated” and as such deserve no consideration. (Although the mediator had not objected to the letter when it was presented to Father Robles Gil and was accepted for consideration by the Legion director general.) Father Connor remains politely in contact with Dr. Barba by email.

 

7. ReGAIN would hope that all active and former members of the organization work and pray for an equitable solution to this seemingly endless saga.

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED AS NEEDED

ReGAIN drafting under the

patronage of Saint Nathanael (Bartholomew) and

protection of St. Michael the Archangel