A translation of a Sandro Magister blog note on the Legionaries of Christ since the Vatican’s penance given to their founder:

Two months since the canonical decision from the Vatican on Marcial Maciel Degollado, 86-year-old founder of the Legionaries of Christ, the biweekly magazine Il Regno (n. 12/2006, 6/15/06) of the Dehonian order has dedicated three pages of commentary on the case under the signature of its editor, Lorenzo Pressi.

The analysis is the first one published in depth about the case in the Catholic media. Prezzi confirms the amplitude of the investigation and the great number of Maciel’s accusers:

"In 2005, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sent an investigator, Fr. Charles Scicluna, to the USA in order to verify the charges made in written depositions. He spoke first with Juan Vaca, then with Paul Lennon, Carlos de Isla, Salvador Andrade, Francisco Gonzales Parga, José Olvera, Alejandro Espinosa and some 30 other witnesses. There were reportedly another 20 witnesses ready to speak out. All of the material gathered was brought to Rome, where it was studied and weighed [along with previous material obtained]."

The article undercores that "at present, the Holy See, the legionaries and bishops have converged in emphasizing the charism of the foundation itself as opposed to the charism of its founder, the fruits of the Legion’s apostolate rather than the personal intuitions of Fr. Maciel," and observes that "this is not unprecedented in this history of religious orders."

As for future developments within the Legion, Presi writes: "Certainly, the Vatican censure will impose some discontinuity. This may be manifested in the choice of persons who will govern the Legion or in interventions (internal and external) regarding its formative system; and in particular, on two adjunctive vows which seemed to have been tailored specifically for an institutional figure reluctant to be governed by normal rules of control over all other religious families."

Pressi summarizes those two adjunctive rules, which he thinks need to be modified, as "Superiors must not be criticized" and "One must not aspire to internal tasks [i.e., within the movement]".