Sexual scandal of Marcial Maciel

Marcial Maciel was the founding leader of the Legion of Christ, based in Mexico, and its general director from 1941 to January 2005. The sexual scandal was related to accusations since the 1970s that the prominent Mexican Roman Catholic priest had sexually abused many minors and fathered a total of six children by three different women. Described as a charismatic leader and the "greatest fundraiser of the modern Roman Catholic church," he was successful in recruiting seminarians at a time of declining priestly vocations. Maciel was the "highest ranking priest ever disciplined because of sexual abuse allegations."

Formal charges against Maciel were filed by nine men with the Vatican in 1998. The scandal related to Maciel was linked with the wider series of international Catholic sex abuse cases being reported in the Catholic church. Church authorities were criticized for a slow pace of investigations, with conjecture that it was because Maciel was close to Pope John Paul II and had well-placed connections among senior clergy. Putting forward his age, the Vatican chose not to prosecute Maciel, but in 2006 Pope Benedict XVI forced him to retire from active ministry. Maciel died in 2008.

In March 2010, the Legion of Christ in a communique acknowledged that Maciel had committed "reprehensible actions," including sexual abuse. The communique stated that "given the gravity of his faults, we cannot take his person as a model of Christian or priestly life." The Legion had long denied the allegations against the priest and, since Maciel's retirement in 2006 had not made any official statement one way or the other. On May 1, 2010, the Vatican denounced Maciel's actions and said that the Legion needed reform; a Papal Delegate was designated to oversee the organization and its governance.

Father Marcial Maciel, a Mexican priest who was the general director of the Legion of Christ, which he founded in 1941, was investigated several times for his behavior. In 1956 the Vatican had him removed as superior and investigated allegations of drug (morphine) abuse. After interviewing members of the then-small congregation, the Vatican cleared him. Maciel was reinstated in February 1959. There are no records of any members reporting sexual abuse at that time. However, since then two seminarians reported that they had lied to investigators in 1956; they did not report having been abused because Father Maciel had earlier had them take a vow never to speak ill of him.

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