Catholics' Ten Most Dreaded Words: I'm from the Vatican and I'm here to help

George Weigel writes on First Things about the Ineptitude at the Vatican.

The reports have emanated from those who had been advised of the Legion’s own investigation of Maciel, but there is still no formal statement from the leadership of the Legion as to what its internal investigations have uncovered. There has been no full disclosure of what is known about Fr. Maciel’s corruptions. There has been no disclosure as to the nature and extent of the web of deceit he must have spun within the Legion of Christ, and beyond. And there has been no public recognition of what faithful, orthodox, morally upright Legionary priests believe have been grave corruptions of the institutional culture of their community.

The letter from Fr. Alvaro Corcuera to the faithful of Regnum Christi, distributed last week and immediately available online, was completely inadequate in naming these sins for what they were. Public statements by Legion spokesmen in Rome and in America have been just as bad, due largely to failures by Legion leadership and to an institutionalized culture of defensiveness.

While the Legion has a credibility problem on their hands, the more disturbing aspect of this story is the cover up at the Vatican level.

The spin they allowed in the vacuum of defending Maciel for decades.

Fathers Berg, Gill, and Williams have also conceded, admirably, their own failures to see through the web of deceit spun by Fr. Maciel. Their words reconfirm what those of us who have benefitted from the friendship of Legionary priests have known for years—there is great good here, as there is among the faithful members of Regnum Christi.

The question now is, how shall that good be saved?

It can only be saved if there is full, public disclosure of Fr. Maciel’s perfidies and if there is a root-and-branch examination of possible complicity in those perfidies within the Legion of Christ. That examination must be combined with a brutally frank analysis of the institutional culture in which those perfidies and that complicity unfolded. Only after that kind of moral and institutional audit has been conducted, and has been seen publicly to be a clean audit, can the Legion of Christ, and the broader Church

There's one thing I completely disagree with George about in his op-ed, because, it is quite frankly, just more enabling.

George suggests that an audit of the Legion be done, mandated by the Pope, by somebody who reports directly to the Pope and "he would be instructed to make recommendations (again, to the pope alone)".

Implied in this suggestion is, in the gross dysfunction at the Curia, the corruption flourishes and we need to allow it to continue to flourish as we work around the problem to solve the Maciel mystery.

Then what?

We all pretend whatever else the corruption is covering is not our responsibility?

Not good enough. Nowhere near good enough.

A curia in which no one in authority had the sense to Google “Richard Williamson,” and no subordinate had the nerve or capacity to compel the superiors to pay attention to a potential landmine, is not a curia capable of getting to the roots of the Maciel betrayal. Nor, candidly, is it a curia capable of conducting an investigation that can command public credibility. It is regrettable that this is the case, for there are many honorable people working in the Roman curia. But it is the case.

The truth is, the Vatican can rely on the culture within to keep dirty little secrets under the radar. Catholics who want to rub elbows with the Curia oppress, punish and snub whistle-blowers. The last thing they will do is make the dirty secret public. They will sit around and cordially put on dog and pony show in the presence of somebody they know is doing something harmful. When whistleblowers are abused and snubbed, some even join in kicking the wounded animal.

Numerous priests have been pulled out of their ministry for "telling". I might even venture to say - every one who ever "told" is pulled out of their ministry and persecuted.

The revelations that Maciel was a drug and people abusing sex addict all along has exposed what many of us have feared all along. We should be investigating who knew what at the Roman Curia and "disband", "dismiss", "replace" and "reform" anyone and anything whose fingerprints are on this absurdity.

Then, we will have gone a long way towards resoring credibility, "saving" not only the Legion but the many priests and parishes who are suffering from the ineptitude, dysfunction and corruption.

We can do better than this?

Holy fire, come dwell in each heart.
Grant us the gifts your love imparts.
Free our tongues to boldly proclaim
"Jesus is Lord forever!"

Jesus Christ, you are my life,
alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus Christ, you are my life.
You are my life, alleluia.