Question 8.130

8.130 What lesson should we learn from the terrible story of Father Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ?

A moment ago I mentioned the problem of bishops who do not know the horrors committed by certain priests. Allow me to tell you a little personal anecdote. When I was archbishop of Conakry, I read a book by Father Maciel on the formation of seminarians and clergy. I found his analysis magnificent. … In point of fact, I was entirely unaware of his real life and his unworthy conduct. Furthermore, how could I ever have imagined that this work had not been written by him and, worse yet, that whole passages were lifted from other treatises on spirituality?

Before I came to Rome, my knowledge about that congregation was limited. Moreover, I never met Father Maciel. Later, when I worked at the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, I was struck by the luxuriousness of the Legion’s houses of formation and spiritual centers; from that perspective, I often wondered about their ability to travel to poor mission countries.

Nevertheless, I was impressed by the significant number of priestly vocations that they generated. During a theology conference at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, which is run by the Legion of Christ, I had admired the good comportment of all those seminarians, who had come primarily from Latin America. They were a symbol of the new evangelization desired by John Paul II. My admiration for those young members of the Legion of Christ has never diminished. For God often lets the weeds and the good grain live together until the harvest. And we can admire their generous gift of their life and their commitment to following Christ.

Of course, there is always one burning question. How could a man as corrupt as Father Maciel fool the Roman authorities and the popes themselves for so many years? I think that the founder of the Legion of Christ betrayed the graces that heaven had given him. Little by little the devil took hold of his soul and inspired in him all the despicable acts that we know about now. I do not think it possible to suppose that that man was ever, even for a single day, in a relationship with Jesus Christ. It seems obvious that he constantly rejected the help that the Son of God could have given him.

According to the revelations that investigations of his life have brought to light, Marcial Maciel had already committed abominable acts at a very young age. His duplicity is all the more impressive since he succeeded in placing the government of the Legion at the service of all his corruption. The mystery remains, because he founded a flourishing religious family. Father Maciel instituted a work for the good of the Church while never renouncing his own sin.

Indeed, this man built up a work of God while at the same time carrying in his own person the seeds of its destruction. There certainly was a battle between good and evil; God gave much, while secret, maleficent actions never ceased to spread their diabolical poisons. While God was building a magnificent work, the devil did his utmost, in ever more hideous ways to ruin the work down to its foundations.

It must not be forgotten that the Legionaries of Christ have made an enormous contribution to the Church over the course of the last fifty years. The esteem that John Paul II had for the Legion was first of all an appreciation of its authentic missionary work.

After so many difficulties and attacks by the Evil One, I am certain that the better side will triumph. We must remember with gratitude the way in which Joseph Ratzinger was able to address with courage and lucidity such a complex problem that others pretended not to see. In many respects, Benedict XVI saved the Legion of Christ from major chaos.