The Legion of Christ, Now

On the February 4, the Mexican Catholic order, the Legion of Christ, announced, in a statement of contrition that their founder had violated his vows and had fathered a daughter. Their spokesman, in the statement said "One of the mysteries that we all see in life is that God does good works with less than perfect human instruments."

This morning I spent an hour on the phone with a priest, who has become a good friend. He is going through a very rough time. I never met Fr. Maciel the founder of the order. But he was evidently a very charismatic individual. The order developed a focus of on evangelizing leaders. I have worked around members of this order for almost 20 years. I have been impressed by a group of priests and individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to focus on the charism of the order. There are things about this order that are off putting to me. I am not good around hierarchies and like a lot of elements in the Catholic church, the Legionnaires seem to have that as an operating principle. I've had a number of discussions with priests in the order about the appropriate role of obedience. (One of the four vows that Legionaires make). But I have never been confused about the clear relationship that the order has established to help leaders think about ethical practices in leadership.

In January of 2006, after an article in the WSJ about the Legion which I thought was a bit inaccurate, I commented "Like most human organizations there are complex stories to tell about this order. But when I look at the contributions that individual priests and lay people make to their societies, I am impressed with the breadth and depth of their commitment to firm values and great implementation. I am not sure why the WSJ could not also get that message." After the disclosure on the fourth and the phone call today I went back to that post. I believe it is still accurate.

The revelations about Fr. Maciel have been troubling to some of my friends. But I would argue that regardless of the human frailties of their founder, that the Legionnaire's gifts to leaders are immense and that they should not lose sight of that.