Margaret beat me to the punch on the Fr. Berg interview, but as someone who spent years living and working with the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi, I'd like to highlight a critical point he made which lies at the crux of so many of the problems with this institution:

At the core of serious problems in the internal culture of the congregation is a mistaken understanding and living of the theological principle - in itself valid - that God's will is made manifest to the religious through his superior. The Legionary seminarian is erroneously led to foster a hyper-focusing on internal "dependence" on the superior for virtually every one of his intentional acts (either explicitly or in virtue of some norm or permission received, or presumed or habitual permissions). This is not in harmony with the tradition of religious life in the Church, nor is it theologically or psychologically sound. It entails rather an unhealthy suppression of personal freedom (which is a far cry from the reasoned, discerned and freely exercised oblation of mind and will that the Holy Spirit genuinely inspires in the institution of religious obedience) and occasions unholy and unhealthy restrictions on personal conscience.

Furthermore, Legionary norms regarding "reporting to," "informing," "communication with," and "dependence on" superiors constitute a system of control and conformity which now must be considered highly suspect given what we know about Fr. Maciel. They furthermore engender a simplistic, and humanly and theologically impoverished notion of God's will (its discernment and manifestation) that breeds personal immaturity.

More seriously, the lived manner in which Legionaries practice obedience is laced with the kind of unquestioning submission which allowed the cult of personality to emerge around the figure of Maciel in the first place and covered for his misdeeds. Legionary seminarians are essentially trained to suspend reason in their obedience and to seek a total internal conformity with all the norms, and to withstand any internal impulse to examine or critique the norms or the indications of superiors.

Granted, the primary motivation behind such living of obedience is the ideal of total "immolation" of oneself for the love of Christ as embodied in the relentless living of all norms and indications of the superiors. This "immolation" of intellect and will is at the heart of the "holocaust" that the Legionary is invited to live for love of Christ and the Church. While the motivation is valid, and generations of Legionaries have pursued this in good faith, in the long run it not only proves profoundly problematic, but also explains the negative personality change which many, if not most, Legionaries undergo over time: the shallowness of their emotional expression, the lack of empathy and inability to relate normally to others in so many contexts, the general sense of their being "out of touch," etc. Only exceptionally do Legionary priests move beyond this, but only thanks to the multiple talents and human gifts they brought with them to the Legion.

This cannot be emphasized enough. What I saw when I was on the inside was not just the fostering of dependence on superiors and spiritual directors, but a fostering of co-dependence. This leads to a deformation of conscience and will that all but completely strips individuals within the system of their ability to make independent, conscientious decisions. 

Which is why, in my opinion, there are a number of Legionary seminarians - and even priests - who do not now, nor have ever had, a priestly vocation. I didn't have one, but that didn't stop superiors I loved and respected from telling me that they "knew" I had one. That kind of certitude in a system where the priests calling the shots are telling you "God's will" can be an insurmountable obstacle to young men (or women) discerning whether they are called to the religious life. And the Legionaries' frequent insistence that even those signs that would ordinarily be considered evidence of a different vocation (say, a strong desire for the married life) are nothing but further indications of God's call to ecclesiastical vows often seals the deal. 

I spent many years trying to overcome the guilt I felt about following my heart instead of my superiors' and spiritual directors' wishes that I become a Legionary. Intense, gut-wrenching, faith-damaging guilt. And I was only in their clutches for a relatively short time. Imagine what happens to the boys who join them at the age of 12 or 13 and spend more than a decade in seminary.

I'll never forget one priest who was in charge of a large house of apostolate and school where I spent some time living in community as a layman. He told me that he was sure I had a vocation, and when I responded that I appreciated his assessment, but didn't want to be a priest, his response was stunning. 

"Who said anything about wanting to be a priest? I didn't want to be a priest. I still don't want to be a priest. But if God wants it..."

I later heard through a friend still involved with the movement that this particular priest was eventually laicized. As was the priest who brought me in to the movement - a man who had been engaged to be married before he was convinced that he had a vocation and dropped everything to join. These were good men, and good priests, insofar as they had the will to be, even without necessarily having the vocation. Why? Because they loved God. And I find it outrageous that their love for Him, and desire to please Him, was used to manipulate them.

Fr. Berg's point remains valid for so many who leave. My friends and I at Steubenville, most of them former members of Regnum Christi, used to remark about the students who would arrive with "PLS" - "Post-Legionary Syndrome."Socially awkward, unable to adapt or relate, often careening out of control into drugs, alcohol, sex, or other self-medicating behaviors, many even lost their faith. Without a superior telling them what to do and how to do it, and what "God's will" was for their lives, they lost touch with Him. If they were anything like me, they felt that without the direction and spirituality that the Legion provided them, they were cut off from God, the bridge across the great unknown chasm between heaven and earth burned, leaving them staring into an abyss of uncertainty. 

The reasons for why individuals were manipulated in this way remains unclear, and I could only speculate on what the end game was. It should be noted, however, that there is no power over people like religious power, and we should not discount the possibility that while many of the superiors thought they were doing the Lord's work, they were playing into the hands of a sick, twisted founder who may well have been using them to recruit, assimilate, and hold dominion over those who would willingly subject themselves to him. His priests were his army, and with good intentions they managed to act as his shield and protection for a very long time, showing the world something beautiful, which seems ultimately devised to mask and disguise the evil lurking at its core. 

The apostolic visitors must recognize this if they wish to truly understand the heart of the problems those still in the Legion face. And Fr. Berg's warning that those currently in formation for religious vocations are being deprived of the "requisite interior freedom to genuinely discern God's calling in their lives" is critical and urgent. These souls need rescue, and to be shown solace not necessarily in a movement spirituality, but in the arms of their Holy Mother, the Church.