Damned if He Does, Damned if He Doesn’t

There’s a peculiar article, “Second-Guessing John Paul II” in the Los Angeles Times this morning. The article is by Jason Berry. Berry has cowritten a book with Gerald Renner titled, “Vows of Silence”. The book is an account of the history of Father Marcial Maciel Degollado. Maciel is the founder of an ultraconservative Roman Catholic order in Mexico called The Legion of Christ. Berry says, “Maciel launched the Legion in 1941…the order is small, about 600 priests, but has branched into the U.S. with two dozen prep schools and two seminaries for teenage boys, an achievement made possible by Maciel's huge fundraising efforts. The Legion is built on a cult of personality. Maciel's picture hangs in every school, where children are taught that he is a living saint.” Berry is now directing a documentary based on “Vows of Silence”. You could call “Vows of Silence” an account, a history, a saga. But juicy scandal is closer to the mark. However, it’s hard to know where Berry is coming from in the LATimes article. He begins by saying Pope Benedict disgraced Father Maciel recently when he told the 80-year-old pedophile priest to go into quiet retirement. Then Berry says Pope Benedict cast doubt on Pope John Paul’s judgment because Pope John Paul decided to ignore Maciel’s pedophilia and praised him instead. Berry points out that new popes must be very respectful of old popes because all popes come directly down the line from Jesus. It’s called Apostolic Succession. As in, first there was Jesus, then Saint Peter and right on down to Pope Benedict. It seems Berry is saying Benedict shouldn’t have ratted out Maciel, because John Paul didn’t, but Benedict had to even though it’s bad for the Church. But I’m not sure if that’s what he’s saying. In 1997 Berry and Renner wrote an investigation that was published in the Hartford Courant about Maciel and his pedophilia. They interviewed nine of his twenty accusers. Pope Benedict’s recent investigations asserted that there were "more than 20 and less than 100 victims”. But in 1997, lawyers for Maciel threatened a lawsuit over the Berry/Renner tell-all even though the Vatican never said Maciel was innocent Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict) wanted to kick Maciel out in 2004. The Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, persuaded him not to take action. Ratz knew Sodano would soon retire so he backed off. Berry ends his article by saying, “The Legion has 60,000 lay supporters in Regnum Christi. They are deeply orthodox. They study Maciel's letters in prayer groups…Pope Benedict has shattered the meaning of those vows. Now, the Vatican must install "visitators" — outside clerics to oversee, and change, the internal culture — in the order. If it does not, the Legion will continue to promote the myth of Maciel's innocence, undercutting Benedict's authority, even as it urges obedience to the pope.” So now I’m thoroughly confused. Benedict should have? He shouldn’t have? He had no alternative so he had to? But Pope John Paul didn’t, so Benedict makes John Paul look bad? One little tid-bit did make me wonder just how naïve and media-shy these Legionnaires for Christ are. Berry said, “Mel Gibson used several (Legion priests) as advisors in making ‘The Passion of the Christ.’ NBC News hired Father Thomas Williams, one of Maciel's foremost defenders, as an ‘ethics commentator’ and on-camera analyst on papal succession, never mentioning his order or association with Maciel.” Maybe Berry’s point is that the Pope, Vatican, cardinals, curia, priests, and all RCC orders are thoroughly confused. That sounds right to me.