Silent out of shame

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The "Legionaries of Christ": catholic order © lc

A priest of the "Legionaries of Christ" -until recently head of a seminary in Rome- is making headlines after he announced that he is the father of a son and a daughter.

The religious order Legionaries of Christ on Friday made public the case of Oscar Turrion, who from 2014 until this year was head of the Maria Mater Ecclesiae seminary in Rome run by the Legionaries of Christ. According to the report, Turrion informed his religious superiors on Thursday that he had been the father of a son for several years.

Already in the spring he had informed the leadership of the order about the birth of a daughter and asked for a time-out.

Case treated confidentially

At that time, according to the "Legionaries of Christ", the process was kept confidential at Turrion's request. A successor was sought for the leadership of the seminary, who took office in August. In an open letter, Turrion announced that he was seeking a release from his priestly vows and his transfer to the lay state.

Both children came from the same woman, with whom he has had a relationship for some time. He had found himself in a crisis of meaning "due to certain circumstances" with the Legionaries of Christ and "many other circumstances" in the church – and in this situation he fell in love with the woman.

Relationship concealed out of respect and shame

By his own admission, Turrion made the decision to continue this relationship during his time as rector of the seminary. "Out of love and respect" for his employees and seminarians, but also "out of weakness and shame," he had hesitated to announce his decision until shortly before the end of his term of office.

For its decision as well as for its proceeding it takes over the full personal responsibility. At the same time, Turrion stressed that at no time did he use his income as head of the seminary to support the children. Rather, the funds came from donations he received from friends for "personal disposal".

A priest has the duty to rest his office if he begets a child

The Legionaries of Christ quoted the president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Children, Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley. The latter recently emphasized: "When a priest fathered a child, he had a moral duty to leave his office and look after the welfare of the child and the mother."

The Legionaries of Christ operate two seminaries in Rome, the in-house "Center for Advanced Studies" and the International Pontifical College Maria Mater Ecclesiae.

The crisis of the Legionaries of Christ

After it came to light that its founder, the Mexican cleric Marcial Maciel Degollado (1920-2008), sexually abused minors, fathered three children with two women and committed other serious misconduct, the order was plunged into a serious crisis.

The Vatican placed it under provisional administration from 2010 to 2014 and ordered a major renovation. The Legionaries of Christ then distanced themselves from their founder in an unprecedented move.

The Vatican press office on Wednesday released a verbatim transcript of remarks made by Pope Benedict XVI. during his flight to Cameroon. The Catholic News.-Agency (KNA) documents the question posed by the French television journalist Philippe Visseyrias (France 2) and the much-discussed sentences of the Pope on the AIDS problem in its own translation from Italian. The punctuation is that of the Vatican press office.

Question: Holiness, among the many evils that afflict Africa, the spread of AIDS stands out. The attitude of the Catholic Church on the way to fight it is often considered unrealistic and ineffective. Will you address this ie during the trip?
Pope Benedict XVI.: I would like to say the opposite: I believe that the most effective and present organization in the fight against AIDS is precisely the Catholic Church, with its movements and its different structures. I think of the Community of Sant' Egidio, which does so much in the fight against AIDS, both visible and hidden, I think of the Camillians and all the religious sisters who serve the sick (…) I would say that the problem of AIDS cannot be overcome with advertising slogans alone. If the soul is missing, if Africans do not help themselves, this hostage cannot be eliminated with the distribution of condoms: On the contrary, there is a risk of increasing the problem. The solution can only be found with a twofold commitment: The first is a humanization of sexuality, that is, a spiritual and human renewal that brings a new way of dealing with each other. And the second a true friendship also and above all with those who suffer, the willingness to be with them, even with sacrifices and personal renunciation. These are the factors that help and that also lead to visible progress. Therefore, I would say, it is this double effort of ours, to renew man inwardly, to give him spiritual and human strength for a behavior that does justice to one's own body and that of others, and this ability to suffer with those who suffer, to remain there in the trials of life. It seems to me that this is the right response and that the Church is doing this, making a very great and important contribution. Let us thank all those who do this.

It's worse than feared: Germany's two major churches have lost more trust in the past year than any other social institutions. No wonder, says editor-in-chief Ingo Bruggenjurgen.

In the latest RTL-NTV trend barometer (see info on the left), the churches are overtaken only by the pope, who has plummeted by a full 20 percentage points in Germany and now lies somewhere in the middle of the institutional rankings with 34% trustworthiness. The Catholic Church has landed in the bottom third with only 18% trust. The abuse by too many church officials sends its greetings. But it is certainly not only the sluggish, often inadequate and poorly coordinated inter-diocesan processing of sexual abuse. How often does every Christian fall short of his own claims? Where is water not preached everywhere and then, unfortunately, wine is served in the wrong bottles?? If the "Mr. Pastor" lives more or less openly in a marriage-like relationship, while at the same time celibacy is sold as dogma, that is just as untrustworthy as the "Mr. Neighbor", who in truth is a real adulterous puke, but takes a seat in the front row in church every Sunday.

Does it help in the proclamation of "fraternal togetherness" when rich dioceses do not know how to invest their billions sensibly, while other dioceses have long since been running on empty and have no more money for the organist or their schools?? If for decades it is promised to consider women in the church guidance – women however in nearly all church guidance circles still the minority form, strengthens also not exactly the necessary confidence. The unattractive list of untrustworthiness could be continued without any problems ..

The immense loss of trust has therefore long since gone to the core substance: many believers at grassroots level are now frustrated and disillusioned. Since it concerns the church primarily around the passing on of the faith, untrustworthiness is particularly disastrous in so high measure.

Yes, the Lord will not give up his church, one can hope for that. But the words to the early Christians from the letter to the Ephesians should perhaps be taken more to heart again, especially in difficult times: "Therefore put away falsehood, and speak the truth among yourselves; for we are joined together as members… Every kind of bitterness, anger, wrath, clamor, and blasphemy, and all evil, banish from among you! … Forgive one another, because God has also forgiven you through Christ!" (Eph 4.25ff)

Ingo Bruggenjurgen
Editor-in-Chief

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