March 25, 2012                                 Peter Wilkinson (Melbourne)                                Peter's previous articles

Benedict XVI’s version of the Mexican stand-off  

‘It is the responsibility of the church to educate consciences,
to teach moral responsibility and to unmask the evil.’  

With these words Pope Benedict XVI prefaced his 3-day visit to Mexico.

Mexico is the country where the now unmasked, discredited, and deceased Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, founded and ran the conservative religious order, the Legion of Christ, and also ran amuck in a host of horrific exploits including sexual molestation and abuse, financial rorting, drug use, and wanton disregard for others.  

Maciel was a money-raiser and conman par excellence. He was adept at using the huge sums he gathered to buy influence and power in high places, and was not afraid to cultivate clerical connections in Vatican City where he counted among his friends and supporters former Secretary of State and current Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and other cardinals, as well as the current Primate of Mexico, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera.  Maciel also got close to John Paul II, conned him handsomely and was appointed by the pope to a string of influential sinecures. Only belatedly, when the cracks in Maciel’s facade began to be exposed, was action taken to unmask him.   

It was only in 2004, after Maciel had been honoured by John Paul II in a special Vatican ceremony, that Cardinal Ratzinger, as Prefect of the powerful Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, initiated an investigation into a number of allegations against him. But it was not till 2005, after Maciel had stepped down as General Director of the Legion and John Paul had died, that the newly elected Benedict XVI banished him to a life of prayer and penitence. Maciel was only fully unmasked in 2009 when he was found to have been living a double-life for decades: one, as the esteemed founder and head of the Legion of Christ and its Regnum Christi lay arm with 70,000 members; and the other, as the pedophile molester of up to 20 of the Legion’s seminarians, the father of multiple children by different mistresses, and the unaccountable wastrel of Legion monies.

When Benedict XVI disciplined Maciel he gave no explanation to the public or to the Legionaries. Nor did he hand Maciel over to the civil authorities for investigation into his alleged sexual crimes or financial misconduct. Benedict even ruled out a canonical trial because of Maciel’s advanced age (84 at the time) and poor health.

During his term as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger received numerous allegations against Maciel, all serious. He had planned an investigation in 1998, but was persuaded by his colleague, Cardinal Sodano, to back off.  Ratzinger later told a Mexican bishop that the Maciel case was a ‘delicate’ matter and questioned whether it would be ‘prudent’ to prosecute at that time. It had been centuries since a scandal as nasty and complex as this had hit the Catholic Church.

In 2005, just days before John Paul died, Cardinal Ratzinger hinted at what he knew by vowing to rid the church of ‘filth’. However, there is no strong evidence to show that, prior to 2004, he had ever made a determined effort to probe at depth the many allegations against Maciel or to unmask the evil. The New York Times, in May 2010, even accused Cardinal Ratzinger of having personally stalled investigations into Maciel.  But he had to act when the evidence was so overwhelming that it could no longer be ignored.

In previous visits to other nations, where the clerical sexual abuse of minors has been unmasked – often by civil authorities - after blatant attempts by church authorities to cover it up, Benedict has, at the request of local bishops, invariably met with the victims of abuse, listened to their stories, expressed his sorrow and apologized. But in Mexico, this is not happening.  Vatican Press Office Director, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, has explained that in Mexico Benedict will not be meeting any sexual abuse victims because ‘the bishops have not asked him to. The problem is not felt by Mexican society. It is not part of the schedule. It is not happening’.   

It is certainly not happening because the Pope’s schedule is tight.  During the three days Benedict is in Mexico his agenda includes just five public events. Most of the 84-year old pontiff’s time in staunchly Catholic Leon will be spent resting and recovering from jetlag. More likely, it is not happening because the pope and the Mexican bishops are not prepared to tackle head-on the really hard task of educating their own consciences, of teaching themselves moral responsibility and of unmasking the evil that they must have been aware of.

Mexico is the very country where Maciel and the Legion of Christ were born.  In May 2010 the Vatican denounced Maciel for creating a ‘system of power’ which enabled him to lead an ‘immoral double life’. It also denounced his serious and objectively immoral acts confirmed by ‘incontrovertible testimonies’ to be true crimes. But while pledging that actions taken by the current Legion leadership would be scrutinized, no specific sanctions were mentioned. And only belatedly did it acknowledge the ridicule and ostracization that Maciel's accusers had endured for years and commend their courage and perseverance in demanding the truth.

The ‘mechanism of defense’ which had been erected around Maciel to shield him from accusations and to suppress damaging witnesses from reporting abuse had, the Vatican admitted, made him ‘untouchable’. The question now is:  is that mechanism of defense still functioning? Is there still some sort of ecclesiastical Mexican stand-off in place, to the extent that neither the powerful bishops of Mexico nor the pope really want, once and for all, to unmask and resolve the Maciel, Legion and sexual abuse issues? Or would they just prefer to say nothing, hoping that it will all go away? 

What happened with Maciel and the Legion of Christ is at the heart of the problem with the church today, not just in Mexico, but throughout the world. So why are the Mexican bishops and Benedict not willing to get this issue out into the open and deal with it decisively?  Why has Benedict not scheduled a meeting with Maciel’s victims?  Why was the request by the victims themselves for a meeting with Benedict not granted?  What is this stand-off really about?

Benedict will definitely find it much easier to deliver a sermon to the drug lords of Mexico about unmasking the ‘idolatry of money’ than delivering a homily to the church lords on unmasking the ‘clerical idolatry’ of exclusive rights and privileges, unfettered authority, hierarchical pomp, inflated church image and precious institutional reputation that enslaves too many of the bishops and ecclesiastical powerbrokers.  The stand-off here is only too clear.

Today’s Melbourne Age quotes a 17-year old Mexican Catholic, Azai Crespo, as saying that Benedict’s message is essentially 'Don't take the easy way out'.

However, the feeling of all too many Catholics is that Benedict and many bishops have taken the easy way out.  Many believe that they have chosen to ignore their own consciences, to avoid moral responsibility and to mask the evil. Of course, they would wish us to believe otherwise. But few are prepared to be conned any longer, and most are not even listening.