According to this article in the New York Review of Books, Pope John Paul II was cooperating in the efforts to make the founder of the Legion of Christ's mother a saint.Three things strike me:1) For many people, it was about appearances: The Legion looked wholesome and holy. The appearance of holiness is not holiness. Furthermore, neither is the appearance of wholesomeness.2) For the Vatican, it seems to have been about the money and the power.3) John Paul II's involvement in this really needs to be sorted out. These accusations are serious. The idea that he was simply "duped" is not plausible given the facts available to us now --it may be true, but if so, we need more information to see how it is true.In the meantime, we all need to re-read the great reversals of the beatitudes--and of the Gospels themselves..

Cathleen Kaveny is the Darald and Juliet Libby Professor in the Theology Department and Law School at Boston College.

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