A year after assuming duties as pontifical delegate for the Legion of
Christ, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis gave a speech evaluating the current
situation of the religious congregation.
He sharply criticized
“dissidents” within the order who create division and internal tensions.
Cardinal De Paolis gave a “provisional assessment” of the task of
rebuilding the order in a July 3 speech delivered at the Legion’s Center
for Higher Learning in Rome.
He explained that the order has already
implemented “one-third” of the preparations to be completed before the
Legion's general chapter meeting.
The meeting could be held as soon as 2013.
Leaders of the order are expected to then vote on major changes and revisions to the Legion’s constitutions.
“This period has provided an opportunity for greater serenity within
the congregation and for a strengthening of renewed fidelity of the
members to the congregation,” the cardinal explained.
“While it is true that in 2010 the institute suffered its greatest
losses, it is also true that the exodus has been contained with regard
to priests,” he said.
However, regarding the abandonment of the order by its youngest
members, Cardinal De Paolis noted “the negative influence exercised by
some companions who, upon entering the process of renewal, have adopted
an absolutely critical attitude towards the path of renewal.”
“From the beginning, a group of members have joined together and has
been described, by whom I don’t know, as ‘dissidents’,” the cardinal
continued.
“In reality it is not a very large group, as there are very few
people leading it. In emphasizing a ‘structural contamination’ of the
congregation, they have manifested a radical lack of confidence in the
continuation and renewal of the congregation. And in every way they have
become antagonistic towards the legitimate superiors, seeing themselves
almost as custodians of the orthodoxy of the road that must be
traveled. They are using the internet extensively, with a network that
extends to perhaps 200 or more people, including Legionaries,
ex-Legionaries or friends of Legionaries with whom they usually meet,”
Cardinal De Paolis stated.
The pontifical delegate said these “dissidents” act like
“depositories of a prophetic mission in which some think they have a
particular vocation to take the place of their superiors, to set
themselves up as masters of the spiritual life and masters of sound
doctrine.” They exercise “negative influence on the youngest members.
"This kind of information for some is the reason why the youngest members abandon the Legion,” he continued.
“Some of the leaders of this group are unsure about their vocations
and share their doubts with others for no good purpose,” he said.
“As they are stuck on the harm suffered by the congregation, they
seem to enjoy looking at the wounds and continuously reopening them,
instead of looking toward the future with greater depth and hope,
working for true renewal and taking the true path of conversion,” he
added.
“We do indeed need to recognize that we are sinners. But to stop
there is death! If that is a time for realizing that we need God, then
it is a grace, and grace is what comes to meet us,” the cardinal said.
“The community, or our group of interest, is not an instrument for
venting our frustrations or finding justifications. Our community is a
not a ‘spit bowl.’ And we should feel humiliated when we are used like
this,” he said.
Changes
Cardinal de Paolis also discussed the changes that are taking place
within the Legion of Christ, including the work done by commissions
looking at the order’s economic situation, financial settlements and the
work of the European University of Rome.
“The work carried out by me and my advisors has been done, above all,
in conjunction with the superiors in their service of authority, which
is particularly delicate during this period. We believed it was
appropriate to broaden the general council with two new advisors named
after consulting the entire congregation,” the cardinal said.
“We have addressed various problems that have come up with greater
urgency, such as that of defining the figure of the founder and his
writings in the life of the congregation; legislation on internal and
external jurisdiction; on the relationship between superior-spiritual
director-confessor, with regards to religious in particular; there has
also been a review of Regnum Christi, in particular the consecrated
branch, especially the consecrated women, which included an apostolic
visitation that concluded just recently.
“We will carefully examine the question when the visitor presents his conclusions,” he said.
“But the most important issue the Pope has given us is that of
revising the constitutions, inasmuch as they mold your lifestyle, your
spirituality, your apostolate; they contain your charism and the
instruments for living it,” Cardinal De Paolis said.
“We have tried to avoid as much as possible, making any immediate
changes to the constitutions, preferring instead that definitive
decisions be made by the chapter,” he added.