Aaron Loughrey was born in Coleraine, Northern Ireland in 1977. Brought up
Catholic and educated by Dominicans in his home town of Portstewart, he first
met the Legionaries of Christ in 1990 when he was 13. A Legionary Recruiter
regularly visited his home until he entered the Novitiate of the Legion of
Christ in Dublin in 1993, aged 16. In the second year of his Novitiate he says
he was abused by his superior, the Instructor of Novices. Aaron continued in the
Legion of Christ, unaware of any wrongs committed, for a further three years in
Salamanca, Spain. The Legion asked him to leave the congregation for reasons
unknown and unsubstantiated. Finding life outside of the Legionary System
difficult, Aaron says that he started attending counseling and soon understood
the nature of his abuse and later on the cult-like character of his experiences
and how that relates to his recovery.
