Vows of Silence
The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II
Prologue
The story Juan Vaca told was baroque and
chilling, but he wanted Bishop John Raymond
McGann to understand why he had come to the
diocese of Rockville Centre, Long Island. It was
April of 1976. Father Vaca, thirty-nine, had
dark hair flecked with silver, a fair brown
face, and the discerning bishop could perhaps
see the melancholy in his eyes and the sadness
in his demeanor. In later years Vaca would study
psychology to, as he said, "determine where
sickness ends and evil begins."
Vaca had joined the Long Island diocese just as
McGann's predecessor was retiring. Men from the
religious orders, like Jesuits or Franciscans,
often serve in dioceses, but few asked to
officially change status from religious to
diocesan clergy. Father Vaca had impeccable
credentials. In Orange, Connecticut, he had
served five years as the U.S. director of the
Legionaries of Christ, a religious order with
headquarters in Rome.
The Legion was founded in Mexico in 1941 by
Marcial Maciel Degollado. Under Father Maciel,
the Legionaries bu ... read full excerpt from: Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II ebook
