{"id":3016,"date":"2008-08-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/baltimore-and-the-legionaries-of-christ-an-update.html"},"modified":"2008-08-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-08-11T00:00:00","slug":"baltimore-and-the-legionaries-of-christ-an-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/baltimore-and-the-legionaries-of-christ-an-update.html","title":{"rendered":"Baltimore and the Legionaries of Christ: an update"},"content":{"rendered":"

After weeks of sometimes high-profile controversy<\/a>, it appears that the Archdiocese of Baltimore is cracking open the door<\/a> to the Legionaries of Christ: <\/p>\n

Warned by Archbishop Edwin F. O\u2019Brien that its closely held activities must become more transparent if they are to continue within the archdiocese, the controversial Catholic religious order Legionaries of Christ \u2014 and its lay counterpart, Regnum Christi \u2014 appears to have seen the light.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a meeting several weeks ago with three priests of the Legion, and they handed over a rather significant volume of information concerning membership and the programs that they run,\u201d O\u2019Brien told The Examiner.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien, who in June was on the verge of barring the religious and lay orders\u2019 operations within his 153-parish jurisdiction \u2014 including the group\u2019s K-8 Woodmont Academy in Cooksville and its Crownsville family center \u2014 now tentatively supports the traditionalist congregation\u2019s organizational and evangelical work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt depends on their ongoing cooperation,\u201d O\u2019Brien qualified, noting that he has recently written pastors to welcome overtures by Regnum Christi representatives within their parishes, \u201cespecially at the grassroots.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a June letter to the order\u2019s superior general in Rome, O\u2019Brien \u2014 reflecting concerns over the organization\u2019s \u201csense of secrecy\u201d and \u201cseemingly heavily persuasive\u201d recruiting methods \u2014 requested that a Legion priest-liaison be appointed to him who was \u201cfully knowledgeable\u201d of all of the organization\u2019s Maryland activities.<\/p>\n

He furthermore requested the names and ministry sites of all Legion priests operating within the archdiocese; the operating details of all Regnum Christi youth programs, summer activities, and other ministries active in the archdiocese; and asked that all spiritual guidance of those under 18 years of age be suspended.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien, whose initial hand was stayed by Vatican intercession, wanted the information within a month, and he wanted semiannual updates of any changes.<\/p>\n

Apparently, the hybrid evangelical group, which dates from the 1940s and now has 70,000 members, 700 priests and numerous schools, institutes and seminaries throughout the world, has complied completely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are fully in agreement with what the archbishop has asked us to do,\u201d said Scott Brown, executive director of the 300-student Woodmont Academy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After weeks of sometimes high-profile controversy, it appears that the Archdiocese of Baltimore is cracking open the door to the Legionaries of Christ: Warned by Archbishop Edwin F. O\u2019Brien that its closely held activities must become more transparent if they are to continue within the archdiocese, the controversial Catholic religious order Legionaries of Christ \u2014…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":204,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ripped-from-the-headlines","category-vocations"],"yoast_head":"\nBaltimore and the Legionaries of Christ: an update - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/baltimore-and-the-legionaries-of-christ-an-update.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Baltimore and the Legionaries of Christ: an update - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After weeks of sometimes high-profile controversy, it appears that the Archdiocese of Baltimore is cracking open the door to the Legionaries of Christ: Warned by Archbishop Edwin F. O\u2019Brien that its closely held activities must become more transparent if they are to continue within the archdiocese, the controversial Catholic religious order Legionaries of Christ \u2014…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/baltimore-and-the-legionaries-of-christ-an-update.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-08-11T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Baltimore and the Legionaries of Christ: an update - The Deacon's Bench","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/baltimore-and-the-legionaries-of-christ-an-update.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Baltimore and the Legionaries of Christ: an update - The Deacon's Bench","og_description":"After weeks of sometimes high-profile controversy, it appears that the Archdiocese of Baltimore is cracking open the door to the Legionaries of Christ: Warned by Archbishop Edwin F. O\u2019Brien that its closely held activities must become more transparent if they are to continue within the archdiocese, the controversial Catholic religious order Legionaries of Christ \u2014…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/baltimore-and-the-legionaries-of-christ-an-update.html","og_site_name":"The Deacon's Bench","article_published_time":"2008-08-11T00:00:00+00:00","author":"Deacon Greg Kandra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/baltimore-and-the-legionaries-of-christ-an-update.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/baltimore-and-the-legionaries-of-christ-an-update.html","name":"Baltimore and the Legionaries of Christ: an update - The Deacon's Bench","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-08-11T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2008-08-11T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/5a7b3c6e9d155e382842aa310ff9b1ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/baltimore-and-the-legionaries-of-christ-an-update.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/baltimore-and-the-legionaries-of-christ-an-update.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/baltimore-and-the-legionaries-of-christ-an-update.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Baltimore and the Legionaries of Christ: an update"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic Deacon Ponders the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/5a7b3c6e9d155e382842aa310ff9b1ee","name":"Deacon Greg Kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/114\/1144d939be636f641ea021e1d347f9fdx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/114\/1144d939be636f641ea021e1d347f9fdx96.jpg","caption":"Deacon Greg Kandra"},"description":"A Roman Catholic deacon serving the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, Greg Kandra is News Director for the diocese's cable channel, NET (New Evangelization Television.) Prior to that, Deacon Greg worked for 26 years as a writer and producer for CBS News, where he contributed to \"The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,\" \"60 Minutes II,\" \"48 Hours,\" (Emmy Award, Writers Guild of America Award) and \"Sunday Morning.\" He was co-writer for the acclaimed documentary \"9\/11,\" hosted by Robert DeNiro. (Emmy Award, Christopher Award, Peabody Award, Writers Guild of America Award.) His radio essays were featured in the bestselling book \"Deadlines and Datelines\" by Dan Rather. He's also a two-time winner of the Catholic Press Association Award. Other places you may find him: AMERICA, U.S. CATHOLIC, CATHOLIC DIGEST, REALITY (Redemptorist Communications) and THE BROOKLYN TABLET. He also contributes homiletic reflections to the parish resource CONNECT!, published by Liturgical Publications. In November 2009, he began serving a three-year term as a consultant to the Communications Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Deacon Greg grew up in Maryland (Go Terps!) but he and his wife today live in the beautiful borough of Queens, New York. You can contact Deacon Greg at dcngreg@gmail.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/author\/gkandra"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/204"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}