Jeanie Hannaman

By Janet E. Smith, National Catholic Register - Early on I was persuaded of the malignity of Father Maciel when nine men who as boys had been abused by him came forward with credible accusations. As I became more familiar with the Legion, the cultish atmosphere around Father Maciel and the “cookie cutter” appearance and somewhat robotic behavior of the seminarians and priests made me uneasy… When the terrible truth about Maciel was acknowledged, many insisted that the order needed to be disbanded. They argued that orders need a charism given by the founder, and since the Legion’s founder has been thoroughly discredited, the Legion has no charism and no reason for existence.

By Msgr. Charles Pope - At Mass on Sunday for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord,  we read a text from Hebrews that describes our most basic and primal fear. Our inordinate fear of what people think of us is rooted in an even deeper fear, one that is at the very core of our being. The Hebrews text both names it and describes it as being the source of our bondage. In order to unlock the secret of the text, I want to suggest to you an interpretation that will allow its powerful diagnosis to have a wider and deeper effect.