“Must brother drag brother into court?”
Spero News has the run down on the recent lawsuit by the Legion of Christ against ReGAIN Network. I posted about this before, and the comments forthcoming have been rather revealing that something is wrong with the popular image most people have of the Legion. As I stated before, this surprises me because all of the Legionaries I have ever met, as well as those I’ve seen on EWTN, strike me as the finest of finest Roman Catholic priests. As to the scandals associated with the Order, I know as much as anyone else, aside from what former members have told me, everything else is hear-say, except for the following.
When I worked at Leaflet Missal I became acquainted with Paul and Libbe Sellors, the original authors of a catechetical program called Familia, now taken over by the Legion and Regnum Christi. Paul and Libbe went through some very trying times with the Legion who had taken over their program, and apparently wanted the Sellors out of the mix. The Sellors have since republished their work under the title of Together! which is an excellent and comprehensive catechetical program for families.
The Sellors are a fine Catholic couple, very respectable, honest and sincere in their mission of evangelization for the Catholic Church. Their work is nothing less than brilliant and extremely adaptable for adult/family catechesis, in perfect accord with the Magisterium and Catholic teaching.
It was through the Sellors that I first became aware of the Legion’s mysterious business practices, especially in their regard. I was stunned when Libbe gave me the details, reinforcing her story with Archbishop Flynn’s refusal to permit any activities of the Legion and Regnum Christi in the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis. Rather than write a book here, I’ll direct you to the article on ReGain for the full story. Here is an excerpt:
It is important to know that the Sellors created Familia independently of the Legion, writing the materials themselves. Joining the Movement early on, their apostolate seemed an excellent fit with the stated goals of Regnum Christi, and the Legion moved in quickly to lend a hand. As long as the Sellors were members of Regnum Christi and saw eye to eye with the Legionaries of Christ about catechizing the faithful, all was well. Familia quickly became the top recruiter for the Legion because of its comprehensive approach to the family. Thus, fathers and mothers joined Regnum Christi, their daughters considered vocations in the consecrated branch, their sons tested their call to the Legion, and everyone raised funds for seminarians and other projects of the Movement. Everything was golden – or was it?
What Was the Real End-game of Familia?
A rift opened quietly, behind closed doors as those who signed up for Familia quickly found themselves invited to Legion-sponsored retreats, other courses, and conventions, which each suggested that they join the Movement because of the urgent need to build the Kingdom. While joining was usually quite appealing, the Sellors were increasingly frustrated that the members who incorporated into Regnum Christi dropped out of Familia. Since the demands of the Movement (daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly) required significant commitments of time and money, one could not participate in both, and Regnum Christi prevailed. Knowing that all four years of formation were important, they begged that the recruiting of their participants be delayed until they had graduated from the complete course, but the Legion persisted.
Only in hindsight did Paul and Libbie realize that there had been a deliberate attempt to drive them out. - Gospel Charity Cuts Both Ways
Read the Sellor’s story and maybe this current lawsuit by the Legion will make more sense - that maybe the organization has to something to hide. It sure seems to me something is very wrong in that organization.
[Incidently, ReGAIN is in need of donations for their legal defense fund, to donate go to their website, The Legionaries have a lot of money and powerful backers, so ReGAIN needs all the help they can get. What did St. Paul write about public lawsuits? "Why the very fact that you have lawsuits against one another is disastrous for you." - 1 Corinthians 6:7]
