In May 2006, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) made public its decision to “invite” Fr. Marcial Maciel, founder of the religious order the Legion of Christ and the lay movement Regnum Christi, to “a reserved life of penitence and prayer, relinquishing any form of public ministry.” The CDF decision was approved by Pope Benedict XVI. From that date forward, both before and after Fr. Maciel’s death in 2008, senior officials of the Holy See have insisted that this action was intended to “save the Legion and Regnum Christi,” as one such official put it to me.Assuming,...