The Legion of Christ owes its existence to a predatory pedophile priest and conman, who survived waves of Vatican investigations through guile and DECEIT. If you fail to see through the Glittering Appearances of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi Movement, you are being deceived today
Wikipedia: Sexual Scandal of Marcial Maciel:
Formal denunciation by the Vatican
On 1 May 2010, the Vatican named a delegate and appointed a commission to review the Legionaries of Christ. In a statement, the Vatican denounced Marcial Maciel for creating a “system of power” that enabled him to lead an “immoral” double life “devoid of scruples and authentic religious sentiment” and allowed him to abuse young boys for decades unchecked.[23]
The “very serious and objectively immoral acts” of Marcial Maciel, which were “confirmed by incontrovertible testimonies,” represent “true crimes and manifest a life without scruples or authentic religious sentiment,” the Vatican said.[23] The Vatican said the Legion created a “mechanism of defense” around Maciel to shield him from accusations and suppress damaging witnesses from reporting abuse. “It made him untouchable,” the Vatican said. The statement decried “the lamentable disgracing and expulsion of those who doubted” Maciel’s virtue. The Vatican statement did not address whether the Legion’s current leadership will face any sanctions.[23] Actions taken by the current Legion leadership will be scrutinized; but no specific sanctions were mentioned. The Vatican acknowledged the “hardships” faced by Maciel’s accusers through the years when they were ostracized or ridiculed, and commended their “courage and perseverance to demand the truth.”[23]
Introduction: A former Legionary, now a diocesan priest, had four boxes of highly incriminating information in the back of his car. This driver crossed several states, gave the material to another contact, who read, noted and then passed all four boxes onto a now-deceased associate of ReGAIN; we’ll call him “Papa”. He was a well-known defender of the Faith and a highly respected Catholic lawyer. Papa himself said of the Legion, “This is a Satanic Cult!” And recently, someone remarked that the Legion was “worse than the Scientologists in lies and secrecy”.
Papa took the material in the four bankers’ boxes and went over it. Four days later he called one of the Regain members and asked, “Who else has seen this?” “Only three people – courier, receiver, and now you”. Papa said, “Don’t speak of this to ANYONE!” He said emphatically, even fearfully. “Do not let anyone – not a single person – know of this!” Papa then went about making copies, concealing them and dissimilating the originals to other trusted colleagues in high places. He said that all of the material revealed a vast financial network. It was like the “religion department” of a multi-national financial corporation; the Legionaries of Christ appeared to be their “largest portfolio”. He went on to note that the material he had read over indicated the best criminal minds and P.R.-advertisements that he had ever met. Most of the subject matter was just barely this side of the law, if not open money laundering; it was highly organized and meant to mirror the Catholic Church’s mission of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but instead was the Gospel of Prosperity, entirely based on fraud, deceit and confidence games. Before his death, Papa gave this material to authorities in both the USA and the Vatican; it went by private courier and the receiver in the Vatican was quoted as saying, “I would not entrust this material to any hand but my own to give to the Holy Father – not up even one staircase!” Papa was well–connected. Soon after the first dossiers were sent to Rome, a core group was founded and the private meeting began with the question: “Is there anyone here, after considering this material, who does not think that the Legion/Regnum network is as efficient and highly sophisticated as Al-Qaeda”? Everyone was in somber agreement. Thus began the undercover side of Regain, just three years after Regain was officially founded in Dallas, when thirty former Legionaries and Regnum Christi members met for the first time – after the three Legionary goons who crashed the event were thrown out by the hotel security!
Professional recordings of that first Regain Conference were made in a closed room, which was checked for “bugs” after the troublesome Legionary “crashers” were evicted. Then, the former Legionaries and victims of Maciel gave gut-wrenching testimonies; they were addressed on the subject of “Abuse” by Catholic therapist, Suzanne Baars, daughter of Conrad Baars, the famous “doctor of the heart”. At the time of this first Regain meeting, a Cistercian priest at the nearby Abbey of Our Lady of Dallas remarked on the former Legionaries he had known: “They are like the prisoners who were brainwashed during the Korean War; they won’t talk to each other, but they will talk to an outsider.”
The pooled knowledge that comes to this Regain website, cumulatively, is hundreds of years experience of former LC/RC members. We are family or friends of present and former Legionaries and Regnum Christi members, but most of us were at one time seminarians or priests, consecrated or 3gf – all former Legionaries and Regnum Christi members. Each of us has one piece of a vast puzzle. Together, we’ve got a fairly complete map of the black heart of the Legionaries of Christ’s fraudulent intention; it achieves its evil ends by appealing to nobility, beauty and goodness – and uses the patrimony of the Catholic Church to get donations.
Despite our experience and commitment to the truth in this blog, we’re used to getting dismissals from those who could benefit most from our experience and efforts to reveal the lie. However, it is the Legion and Regnum Christi members who are the ones perpetuating the hall of mirrors in which they are themselves caught. They are being told by their Legionary spiritual directors to lie about their affiliation with the LC/RC. They cannot be spotted on a resume or job interview, at least not easily. Often there are large numbers of episcopal supporters on their websites, and there is always appeal to the presiding Holy Father – especially St. John Paul II – to give them religious credibility and cover. They are so vast that it is hard to imagine how they are to be dismantled without schism. “Papa” was told by his Vatican contact, “Sometimes we cannot do what needs to be done as fast as we want it done”. And on another occasion, he was told that the Legion had moved and hidden their money before the Vatican could move against them; they still do so. It is through their front-organizations, private enterprises, that they are arising from the ashes and, Phoenix-like, recreating new enterprises to fleece the faithful and fool the authorities.
Maybe, so we hope, you die-hards, who remain unconvinced or enthralled to the Legion or Regnum outfit, will see the light of the Divine Mercy – not the fraudulent light of Lucifer – and get out from being a part of this mafia-like organization. It would be wonderful if no one were ever fooled, ever again, by the lying Legion and if no one ever had to pucker up, in obedience and through mind-control, to the latest Legionary boss – who was once a man, someone’s child. What a tragedy. Those of us who can pray to a merciful and loving God pray that no one will be deceived or fooled again, and we pray for healing for those who have been wounded by this black lie. Those who still cannot pray, as recovery is not yet complete enough, often find understanding and consolation in popular music and art. They find grim laughter, but it is a place to begin the long road to freedom; for example, the last line from “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who – “…Meet the New Boss/ Same as the Old boss…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHhrZgojY1Q
Thus, we are trying to expose the fraud behind the Legion and to reveal how they are trying to pull the wool over the Vatican’s collective eyes, yet once again. For us, it is to save the families and the kids that we’re working. This is Fraud Alert #2; stay tuned for Fraud Alerts # 3, 4 and 5. Read on…
There is the often-repeated game plan of the Legionaries of “take over/make over”, and the well-known internal directive for the LC/RC hunting for money and recruits: “You are only one person away from the person you want to get to.” The “take over/make over” is a simple plan that works. They target a legitimate and healthy organization for either shut-down or take over; the choice here determines how to go about achieving the goal – either buy out or infiltrate at the administrative level and take it over, or shut down the “competition”. The applicants for a high-level job are not obviously recognized as “Regnum Christi”, and in fact the members are told not to reveal that they are associated with Regnum Christi at all. The targeted entity for “take over/make over” is always good and it always offers something that is needed by the lying Legion to achieve its ends – sports, arts, culture, prayer, education, media, youth. The propaganda is first-rate, and it has just the sort of human appeal – and religious appeal – that can only be achieved by the most professional and highest paid Public Relations advisors and Image Consultants for their advertisements on the websits. This does not automatically make some snazzy “newbie” on the Internet an automatic Legion-affiliate, but it does suggest that one look into the pattern of behavior and presentation.
One of those patterns is the creation of a name or an icon that is a close copy of a well-established and legitimate organization or a religiously solid name. For instance, renaming the Le Mans Academy in Rolling Prairie, Indiana the Sacred Heart Academy. Older readers who are familiar with the Legion may remember that there were never religious names employed by Legionary schools – it was always Oaklawn or Everest – but when an apostolic school is less than 50 miles from the University of Notre Dame with its famous Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the name-sake sets up a certain brand-name recognition that disarms all suspicion: Heart speaks to Heart! And it looks like there is a connection beyond the fact that the Legion bought LeMans Academy from the C.S.C. order that founded Notre Dame, Holy Cross College and St Mary’s College.
The Legion and its affiliates create icons that imitate other icons, as we described in the previous posting “Fraud Alert”. Out of these copy-cat organizations, they can set up a new Internet presence that looks very appealing and slick, but may not be developed beyond a web-domain site. As reported elsewhere there are thousands of Internet domain names purchased out of the Anahuac University by the Legion, and these are incorporated, copyrighted and just waiting for the right moment and the single hour it would take to get the website up on the Internet, appearing as if it had been in existence for ten or more years!
Connect and reflect on what is revealed; think about how the “take over/make over” of the Legion/Regnum machinery works: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECyD . This is, as the banner warns, more of an advertisement than a reporting, because the entry was undoubtably made by a Regnum Christi member; it is about the youth organization, ECYD. It is the emphasis on youth recruiting that the Legion/Regnum is bent on reclaiming because youth means slave labor and the appeal of young faces; youthful slaves mean more money for the “plantation owners”! On the ECYD Wikipedia site, there is this explanation, which connects the better-known “family” of Regnum Christi organizations: ECyD is affiliated with several youth organizations under the Regnum Christi, and the Legionary of Christ umbrella. This affiliation is usually listed as being “Powered by EcyD.”[1]For girls, these include Challenge, Pure Fashion, leading K4J and Mission Youth. The boys’ programs include ConQuest, Mission Youth, leading K4J and other leadership activities. Members of these other groups do not have to be ECyD members, but ECyD members are expected to be leaders within the groups. Participating in these organizations fulfill ECyD members’ apostolic commitments whether through activities in their clubs (Challenge or Conquest) or missionary work through Mission Youth.
The important phrase for understanding how the LC/RC works can be found in the quotation cited above, which is this: “…ECYD members are expected to be leaders within the groups.” While the application is specifically to the above-named clubs, it is also to other, outside Catholic organizations that the ECYD members are expected to assume leadership roles – and thereby corral the organization with the LC/RC influence, administration and, ultimately, complete take over. This is how Familia was taken over from its founders, Libby and Paul Sellors, who sued the Legion for copyright and won. It is also how the Couple to Couple League was coopted (and its message compromised) by Regnum Christi; the demoting and ousting of the original founders, John and Sheila Kippley, has been repeated as a pattern, beyond Familia and CCL: founders of numerous other organizations and contributions to the Legion have had their apostolates and intellectual property stolen by the Legion, which then quickly copyrights the material as their own.
This is by way of pointing to a possible “take over/make over” in progress, by way of a fusion of Catholic Youth Ministry and Life Teen. It may be the Legion that is behind this, but that is not certain. However, when you have several ex-LC/RC members who “smell smoke” and learn two years later that the smoke was fire, it might be a good idea to point out the signs to look for. They never change their game-plan, which makes it somewhat easier to follow and to connect the dots.
One of the first indicators is their expensive and sophisticated website. All of the Legion’s websites are the best of the best. They could fool anyone into thinking that there is a reality behind the images of happy people and good works – even if there are no real people at all and no good works, just the appearance. This is like the Soviet’s use of the Potemkin Villages, which were fake towns and staged cheerfulness for visitors to see how good life was in the Communist controlled U.S.S.R.
A single highly professional webmaster could design and monitor a hundred websites or more, if he or she were well enough paid for this service. The Life Teen and Catholic Youth Ministry websites are both sophisticated and elaborate: http://lifeteen.com/cym/ On this website, it states explicitly the union between Catholic Youth Ministry and Life Teen. And on the same site, there is a link to an upcoming conference for the fused entities at a Summer Catholic Youth Ministry Convention: http://lifeteen.com/events/catholic-youth-ministry-convention/. Is there any former Regnum Christi or Legionary who does not remember the Mega-conferences of the past – Chicago’s Union Pier, Washington D.C., St Louis, Atlanta, Indianapolis, are just a few – where Maciel came mincing in with eyes closed and hands held up in benediction, a smile on his face and his dyed hair perfectly coiffed? Remember the confessional stations that required those who were going to confession sign up by name and time slot, all the better to connect the confessional material with the individual, and the better to use for blackmail later on? Is there anyone who has this living memory, as the youth of today do not, who does not experience some discomfort or foreboding upon looking at this featured Catholic Youth Ministry Convention? Will this draw off the next generation of our children? Are these abusers and deceivers driving a different van, but still the same kidnappers who were lying, cheating and exploiting as before?
From these websites, it might well be deduced that Catholic Youth Ministry and Life Teen (founded in 1985 in Mesa, AZ) are one and the same, or in the process of morphing, one into the other, and both under the control of the shadow-hand of the Legion. Catholic Youth Ministry is a division or front for “Life Teen” which was begun as a charismatic group, that the Legion was trying to infiltrate and “play footsie” under the table with – about ten years ago, we are told — but the founder, Fr. Dale Fushek, (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Fushek ) was a sexual deviant and pedophile, who was defrocked and laicized. The Legion had to tend to its own scandals, and so backed off from its close association with Life Teen– at least for a while. In fact (Ahem!) Regain did an exposé on the founder of Life Teen two years ago; the article can be read here from our own archives: https://regainnetwork.org/2014/11/28/life-teen-founder-arrested-on-sexual-misconduct-charges/ Dale Fushek has continued his charismatic Praise and Worship Center, even though he was charged with heavy crimes, but lightly punished through plea bargaining with a fine of $250 and a year of probation.
There are many similarities between the Legion and Life Teen, especially in the founders, as the Regain article states. However, time passes and a new generation of young people, now teenagers and young adults, remember nothing of the scandals of Maciel and Fushek. Even so, the long-established and respectable name of CYO, Catholic Youth Organization, may be the real target, after the fusion of Life Teen and Catholic Youth Ministry. Catholic Youth Ministry is very close in title to Catholic Youth Organization, which can so easily be imitated. If the take-over/make-over is not effective, then the rival organization – possibly the CYO – is simply dwarfed by the sheer size of the rival organization, which offers the same program and much more!
The new conferences, camps, leadership seminars, the new organizations, the charismatic emphasis on high-emotion, the mind-control tactics – these cannot be ignored when the dots of CYO, CYM, Life Teen and Regnum Christi/Legionaries of Christ are all connected. The money being poured into the CYM-Life Teen fusion is coming from somewhere. When one considers the investment-need to have new, youthful recruits, who are naïve about the Legion’s fraud and duplicity, the suggestion that it is coming from the Legion’s hidden coffers as a money source is not far-fetched. There is a way, however, to recognize on the websites the signs of deceit and many can connect the dots, even if the smell of sulfur eludes them: boasting, happy-happy young people, many camps and conferences, heavy endorsement by episcopal sponsors, teaching aids in DVDs and workbooks for “leaders”, appeal to religious tradition and piety, and the Gospel of Prosperity behind Eucharistic-centered and appealing programs; this latter fooled many, many of us and continues to fool the hierarchy. The Legion is busily reinventing all its money-making, youth recruiting organizations by new names because they desperately need something to give them new cover and image-laundering. At one youth conference in 2008 in Indianapolis, there was a Legionary/Regnum Christi booth that featured a manikin in clerical double-breasted garb of the Legionaries. Why would they do this? Perhaps because the real men in the Legion were so traumatized by the revelations about the founder’s double life that they were untrustworthy at such a conference.
The Legion has used its domination of the media and the press and radio as a way to legitimize itself and to control the opposition. It is a hall of mirrors, but that’s for another posting…
