This trinity is bad, bad, bad.

My cousin joined a cult. It seems like everyone is uneasy about it except for my dad. He likes to be reassuring to people, so maybe it’s all an act.

He’s not actually my cousin. He’s my cousin’s kid. And it’s not technically a cult, but if you really look at it from a sociological perspective, it just might be new religious movement. He joined The Legion of Christ. It’s a monastic order within the Roman Catholic Church. It’s endorsed by the Vatican. It’s positively frightening.

I think he just turned 21, or maybe he’s about to turn 21. He’s old enough to make decisions for himself, but I question the merit of this organization. He left for the seminary some time around May. The monastery/seminary is not one that prepares its charges for parish ministry. What exactly he’ll do for the rest of his life is unknown to me. Whatever it is, I hope it has nothing to do with this place. He’s allowed telephone calls on three occasions per year, and letter writing is limited to some extent. Until my cousin's 25th wedding anniversary, there are no plans for visitation. I try not to pass judgment on others’ religious choices, but I can’t get behind this. Any group that forces one to cut off all contact with one’s family and friends is a bad idea. Susie from Nueva Cantora says so.

My aunt, the littlest monk’s grandmother and a Catholic convert, is also apprehensive about this. One of her sons spoke to him by telephone and promised that he’d send any money that was needed to break out of there. The littlest monk declined. The offer still stands and will stand indefinitely.

Would you believe that this actually gets juicy/scandalous? Maybe it doesn’t, but it turns out that the founder of this NRM is a serious part of the sexual abuse problem.

Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legion of Christ, which is one of the so-called new movements in the Catholic Church that have received special attention and favor during this pontificate.

...Father Maciel was himself guilty of sexual abuse in the past by quoting nine victims of his unwanted attentions, all ex-Legionaries. The Legion has denied the allegations but the complaints have never been adjudicated by the Vatican.

With the encouragement of the papal ambassador to Mexico, a canonical case was filed with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1998, accusing Father Maciel of "absolving the sins" of his victims in confession --- an ecclesiastical crime that has no statute of limitation. In late 1999, however, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation, halted the proceeding without explanation.

Had Father Maciel been a priest in the United States and accused of sexual abuse by nine former students, he would have been immediately removed from ministry under the U.S. bishops' 2002 charter for the protection of youth.

Within the Legion and the Vatican, however, the founder's status remains secure. Legionaries take vows never to speak ill of him or their other superiors and to report any member who does. Moreover, the pope personally appointed him as a representative to the Synod for the Americas in 1997 and praised him in 2001 at a sixtieth anniversary celebration of the Legion's founding.

(emphasis mine)

So, yeah. We’re a little uneasy. My cousin adds to this that she’s grieving her son’s losses by proxy. His vows of poverty and chastity pain her. She wants grandchildren. Of her three sons, it seems as though she saw him as her greatest hope for propagation. I think the others, younger than the littlest monk, still have a chance.