Thinking of Jerry
News of the impending shake-up of the Legion of Christ gives me another reason to wish that the great and gentlemanly journalist Jerry Renner were still with us.
Jerry, a friend and mentor from our time together at The Hartford Courant, had a keen interest in exposing faith leaders who abused the trust of their followers. He was among the first reporters – and certainly the most persistent – to uncover and write about the abuses of the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the founder of the Legion.
Maciel is alleged to have molested generations of seminarians, some of them children. Since his death in 2008, the Legionaries have acknowledged that he fathered at least one child.
Earlier this year, the general director of the Legion expressed sadness and sorrow for Maciel’s actions, and asked forgiveness from God and those affected. Legion officials in the United States have added their regret that their “inability to detect, and thus accept and remedy, Father Maciel’s failings has caused even more suffering.”
Among Maciel’s critics is Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien of Baltimore, who said earlier this year that he could not recommend that anyone join the Legion or Regnum Christi, its lay movement.
“It seems to me and many others that this was a man with an entrepreneurial genius who, by systematic deception and duplicity, used our faith to manipulate others for his own selfish ends,” O’Brien told The Catholic Review in February. “Father Maciel deserves our prayers, as every Christian who dies does, that he’ll be forgiven and we leave the final judgment to God as to what his life and death amounted to.”
Jerry reported the allegations against Maciel more than a decade ago, first in stories in The Courant – the Legionaries have their U.S. headquarters in Connecticut – and later in “Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II,” the book he co-wrote with collaborator Jason Berry.
As The Washington Post noted in Jerry’s obituary, the great religion writer David Gibson called Vows of Silence “the real trigger” that led Pope Benedict XVI to push Maciel to step down and devote himself to “a reserved life of penitence and prayer.” The Vatican has been investigating the Legion, called by some a cult of personality, in which members are directed to model their lives closely on that of Maciel.
Word now is that the Legion is to be dissolved, and possibly re-formed with new leaders and protections against future abuses.
The last time I spoke with Jerry was in 2005, after he had retired from The Courant and shortly before I came to The Sun. I had been hired to write about faith and values, and I wanted the counsel of someone who had done the job so well for so long. I wish he were here now, so he could see the good his work had helped to accomplish, and so I could ask him what he makes of it now.
Comments
In my opinion the Legion should be dissolved and not reformed. It also shows the need for investigative journalist like Jerry Renner to keep those entrust in leadership positions in faiths from abusing the trust of followers. If it hadn't been for Jerry the whole issue may have well been swept under the rug by the Vatican.
Posted by: ravensfan | September 22, 2009 3:11 PM
The Catholic church has not reformed--it continues to sweep its skeletons into closets in Africa, India and other developed nations--the poor don't have advocates--if a poor altar boy in a remote corner of Africa or India is sexually abused he has no one to espouse for his rights--the Catholic church pretty much has a free pass to conversions and behind the liturgy immoralities in the Third World--no questions asked, no suits filed, no shame foisted upon the archbishops--march in and take your pick of the gullible if you are so inclined and the Vatican will look the other way for the sake of the Lord and all the saints. Man, the whole enterprise is a sham.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 22, 2009 10:18 PM
Where I said developed nations in my 10.18 PM post I meant developing nations.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 23, 2009 8:32 AM
When you have an organization such as the RC Church, just the vastness of the organization is going to give you problems. We are after all humans. The public at large loves to find fault in the church as for some reason they believe that the church believes it is so high above the rest of the world. Well the church CONDEMS any such foul and obscene actions as mentioned. Don't be ridiculous, the founding principles of Christianity are respect, love and truth. The media is just salivating at any chance to deplore the RC Church. "Hating the game and the player". The wise guy said "Hate the player not the game". I think this applies. It makes perfect sense though. The "media" has it's agenda and cannot speak in favor of the church because the church disproves of many mainstream pop-culture ideologies which it (media) promote to gain monetary profit. Your an idiot if you think that there are no scandals and bad men in the church. Whats the big news? It is sad that the church as a whole takes the hit. The church actively tries to correct the wrongs and point "weed out the corrupt men" just as any organization would. It is interesting though how the adversaries of the church jump at any opportunity to exploit its shortcomings. Maybe the church is on to something like making the world a better place? I know for a fact it all boils down to money and profits. Heck, 99% of the secular media probably BELIEVE in teachings such as abstinence, traditional marriage, and going to church on Sunday, but OOPPS! where is the money in that? You cant sell those ideas.... as for the 0.00000015% of disgusting individuals? maybe they could use a little refresher in Christian teachings they claim to be a part of after they spend a few in the slammer?
Signed - O ya, that makes sense!
Posted by: MMM! Grand Slam @ Denny's | September 23, 2009 2:27 PM
First, the number in the US was much higher than 0.00000015%. The John Jay report indicated that allegations were made against approximately 4% of priests between 1950-2002. Second, although this may appear high, this was not the main issue. That in a large organization like the Church some may misbehave seriously is expected. What is unacceptable is that not only no polices were in place to prevent this from happening (e.g protect the most vulnerable members), but instead there was a cover up by Church hierarchy, and these horrible things were allowed to continue. Thirdly, all point that this cover up occurred at the highest levels of the Church to protect people like Father Maciel, the founder of the Legionnaires of Christ, for over half a century because he was influential and brought money to the Church. This is unacceptable. The Church owes a lot to Jerry Renner, for his help in the clean up.
Posted by: tom | September 24, 2009 10:57 PM
I do agree with you tom, and it is sad. Unbelievably sad and their needs to be protocol and systems in place for such abuses. I will admit I have not looked into the countless "scandals" of the time. This is because it is irrelevant to me and it does nothing but ad to the problem (dwelling on scandal is not being productive). I am not saying as a Christian I am turning a blind eye to the issues, but it is out of my (our) immediate control. I do say prayer for these situations is being proactive. Prayer for the church is what is needed and leadership from someone who actually LIVES out the faith he proclaims.
As per a your third point, I will need to do my research on a "cover up at the highest levels". For now, you do raise a good points. The danger I see for the church is the controversy it's critics create. It is a deliberate attept to discredit the church. Controversy based on what? what are the sources. 90% of the time the Vatican acknowledges the issue at had and I have total faith in the leadership and honesty of our current Pope. Our culture loves scandal however. If this were not so, we wouldn't be blogging. Where is all the publicity on the good the church has done for over 2000 years?
Posted by: MMM! Grand Slam @ Denny's | September 25, 2009 5:55 PM