Insisting that the situation is about more than “crisis management,” he added:
“The thing I am most pained about—I share this as a brother—is the near absence of but fleeting suggestions of sorrow, and of apologizing for the harm done, both to alleged victims of Maciel, and, frankly, to all of you. I am deeply, deeply sorry, and I personally apologize with my heart in my hand to each and every one of you.”
“I understand your feelings of betrayal,” he continued, noting his 23 years of service to the Legionaries and his own past attempts to defend Fr. Maciel.
“I have lived my priesthood always with that cloud hanging over me, always having to essentially apologize for being a Legionary.”
“You feel betrayed? You feel rage?” he asked his readers. “I can only say that the rage, and raw emotions that I have felt these past days… are only a glimpse of the unspeakable hell that victims of priest sexual abuse must go through. My thoughts and my heart have been so often with them these days…”
He advised Regnum Christi members to understand they are going through mourning.
“Keep talking to your section directors,” he counseled. “Let them know how you feel. Let them know if you are satisfied with their response to you.”
Fr. Berg suggested they offer acts of reparation for those suffering the effects of clerical sexual abuse and asked they consider reaching out to those who have been hurt by their experiences with the Legion or RC.
To help their own spiritual needs, Fr. Berg advised Regnum Christi members to speak with anyone inside or outside the movement about their pain and their reactions to “this tragic news.”
He said their “spiritual experiences,” even when they came through the letters of Fr. Maciel, are “valid, and real.”
“God was working through those instruments. The sad revelations about Maciel do not change that.”
(Story continues below)
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He noted that the charism of the Legionaries of Christ is “Pauline,” and told those who can no longer find Fr. Maciel’s letters helpful to put them aside and “nourish” their spirit on the letters of St. Paul.
“Try to thank God for the past, and sing his praises for the way [sic] he has done in your lives through RC,” Fr. Berg suggested. “Prayer of thankfulness will help you. Prayer of thanksgiving for this deliverance he has given us now, and for the purification which we are undergoing will also be very helpful.”
Regnum Christi members’ meditation should return to “the bedrock truths of your life” such as the Incarnation of the Son of God, the Redemption, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, their Baptism, and their call to “a more deeply committed Christian life.”
“Finally, I encourage you to speak to Legionary leadership, and even in the form of petition letters, demand nothing less than full transparency regarding the case of Fr. Maciel,” Fr. Berg stated.
“Demand that [Legionaries General Director] Fr. Alvaro seek an independent third party investigation (perhaps in the form of a temporary review board or Visitation team from the Holy See) into uncovering any Legionaries who may have been accomplices to Maciel.
“Demand that a similar body guide Legionary leadership in introducing any needed reforms into the internal culture, methods and religious discipline of the Legion,” he urged.