Vatican probes cult-like group linked to tainted order amid charges of brainwashing.
It's a life regimented in excruciating detail, down to the way they eat an orange. Silence is the norm, information is limited, e-mail is screened, close friendships are discouraged and family members are kept at bay — all in the name of God's will. Known as consecrated women, they are lay Catholics affiliated with a conservative religious order who dedicate their lives to the church, making promises of chastity, poverty and obedience similar to the vows taken by nuns. But the cult-like conditions they endure so alarmed Pope Benedict XVI that in May he ordered an extremely rare full Vatican investigation of the obscure group, which operates in the U.S., Mexico, Spain, the Philippines and a dozen other countries. The inquiry is expected to begin in the coming weeks.
SourceThis group Regnum Christi is the lay branch of the scandal-ridden Legionaires of Christ and operates in 30 countries - including Ireland where it has had a presence for 50 years. What's puzzling me is: What investigative skills will these Vatican investigators have ? After all the top Vatican man in Ireland [Primate of All-Ireland Cardinal Sean Brady] once investigated paedophile priest Fr. Brendan Smyth - that 'investigation' took place in 1975 and Fr. Brendan Smyth didn't appear in court until 1993 - a full 18 years later. And during that 18 years Smyth continued to abuse children. During Brady's 'investigation' he forced child victims of Smyth to take Oaths of Secrecy.
Oath of Secrecy