Father
Marcial Maciel celebrating Mass on August 15, 2005 in Rome. Two men now
say they are sons of Maciel and that he sexually abused them as boys.
(AFP/Getty Images)Father Maciel Is Our Father, Say Two Mexican Men, And He Molested Us
Two Men Claim That Founder of Catholic Order Legion of Christ, Already Disgraced by Pedophilia Charges, Used Fake Name in Long Relationship With Their Mother
Father Marcial Maciel, founder of the powerful Catholic religious order the Legion of Christ, was banned from active ministry by Pope Benedict in 2006 after testimony from more than 20 men that he molested them when they were teens.
Now Maciel's reputation has been further tarnished by accusations made Wednesday by two Mexican men who say they are his sons, and that Maciel sexually abused them when they were young.
The allegations come as Vatican investigators, already looking into charges that Maciel misused funds and fathered up to six children, are about to deliver their findings to Pope Benedict.
After founding the Legion of Christ in Mexico in 1941, Maciel built a vast network of schools, colleges, seminaries and lucrative real estate holdings. At its peak the Legion had an annual budget of $650 million, more than 650 priests and 60,000 followers in an affiliated lay group also founded by Maciel, Regnum Christi. Its pockets were so deep that Mexicans sometimes called the order the "Millionarios de Cristo."
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Pope John Paul II championed the Legion for its unswerving orthodoxy (and Maciel's fundraising prowess), and in 1994 called Maciel "an efficacious guide to youth." The Legion sold videocasettes with stirring images of Maciel with John Paul at a papal audience, the Pope nodding approvingly and smiling at Maciel as Legion followers cheered.
But after John Paul died, his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, shocked the Legion by ousting Maciel from formal ministry. In 2006 Benedict ordered Maciel to a "life of prayer and repentance" after a Vatican investigation of alleged pedophila. At least 20 ex-Legionaries claim that Maciel sexually abused them as teenage seminarians in the 1950s and 60s.
Maciel´s alleged victims gave media interviews, but the Legion stood fast behind Maciel. The order never admitted guilt on the part of the priest they called Nuestro Padre, Our Father. The Legion stopped selling videos of John Paul and Maciel together, but claimed that Maciel, who was not formally tried by the Vatican, had acted like Jesus in refusing to defend himself from the charges. When Maciel died in January 2008 at age 87, a post on the Legion's web site said that he had gone to heaven.
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As
a Roman Catholic Sister, I always feel the embarrassment and shame of
my Church when things like this come out, and I don't mean to minimize
the impact of it all by what I am about to say. What I want to say is
that while we are remembering the scandal and abuses of the Church
(hierarchy), let us also remember the the Church also includes people
like Mother Theresa, Oscar Romero, Dorothy Day, St. Vincent de Paul,
St. Francis of Asissi and many more.Any organization that has a billion
members is bound to be a mixed bag.
cdpjudith Mar-8
cdpjudith Mar-8
As
a former man of the cloth I can tell of a few cover-ups I know of-As an
atheist I don;t have any investment in any religion0theyall do good but
..well..as you can see..they hide their problems..cover them u..the RC
church has iots share..The children abused in the land down under..the
abuses in Irelqnd..the abuse in the USA..the Vatican cover-up..and oin
and on..I don't care to be associated with a group that tells the avg
Jpoe to do one thing and then they do another--immoral at the highest
level..the Vatican..sad..too bad for those that really seek support in
this world..
Mhome2012 Mar-7
Mhome2012 Mar-7
The
only difference is that The Vatican civered this up..and with the new
chagres coming out of Gwrmany..nd the Pope is German..and he
suppossedly covered up the last problem..well you decide..I don't
believe so thisdoesn't affect me..
Mhome2012 Mar-7
Mhome2012 Mar-7
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