FIRST ACADEMIC BOOK ON THE LEGIONARIES OF CHRIST
IS PUBLISHED BY RANDOM HOUSE/GRIJALBO

A much awaited —and needed— scholarly book on the controversial Catholic order of the Legionaries of Christ and founder Fr. Marcial Maciel, published by Random House/Grijalbo, was released just a few weeks ago. A multidisciplinary team of scholars put together an in-depth analysis and shed much needed light about the fastest-growing and most polemic contemporary Roman Catholic movement.

The 272 page work is available in Spanish. It includes five chapters, plus a valuable section of reference documents and appendixes. Five well-known Mexican academics participate as co-authors.

The title in Spanish is:

EL CIRCULO DEL PODER Y LA ESPIRAL DEL SILENCIO: LA HISTORIA OCULTA DEL PADRE MARCIAL MACIEL Y LOS LEGIONARIOS DE CRISTO

The combination of scholarly works and in-depth analysis of the Legion will fill a vacuum of analytical information on this most avoided and controversial subject.

So far, this is the only book published by scholars who have investigated the phenomenon in situ for many years. All are specialists in their respective disciplines.

Until now, the topic of the Legionaries has been dealt with in three books, in either a journalistic or a testimonial fashion. The journalistic books are good texts, especially Vows of Silence. The testimonial book is also an important work written by a well-known ex member.

The Legion is a Mexican based and originated sect. So far, all journalistic books, although very valuable, have been written by people far removed from the culture that gave birth to the expanding Catholic organization.

The new book's approach strives to provide theoretical and conceptual frameworks to interpret both the life and behavior of the founder, It also explores the initial development, the political dimension and the secretive nature of the Legion itself. Needed contexts and documents are provided to the readers to allow for better understanding.

Some of the methodological approaches and disciplines used are historical research, social psychology, medical anthropology, discourse analysis, political theory, philosophy, and communication theory.

Some bookstores offering the book on-line are:

http://www.gandhi.com.mx/Gandhi/Libros/productDetail.cfm?prodId=152993

Also:

http://www.randomhousemondadori.com.mx

In Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/9700517543/qid=1089484857/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-
7079541-2170549?v=glance&s=books

Another option is university library

http://www.elsotano.com/
(Search by title)

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Here are the chapter titles in Spanish with their respective authors.

1-La leyenda fundacional de los Legionarios de Cristo DR. FERNANDO M. GONZÁLEZ

2-Cuando las víctimas callan: respuestas al abuso sexual por líderes religiosos
MTRA. PALOMA ESCALANTE

3-Los Legionarios de Cristo en la estrategia geopolítica del Vaticano para Latinoamérica
DR. JORGE ERDELY GRAHAM

4-La espiral del silencio: el príncipe Marcial Maciel
DR. SALVADOR GUERRERO CHIPRES

5-Crisis de credibilidad: sexo, poder y sacerdocio
DR. ELIO MASFERRER

6-Sección de documentos de consulta
DR. CESAR MASCAREÑAS