The following article appeared day before yesterday in the French newspaper
Le Monde. Here is a translation provided by a person dedicated to the truth about the Legion and Regnum:
Pedophile, morphine addict, a prolific and now incestuous father
the scandal swells around Marcial Maciel, the Mexican priest and founder of the
Legion of Christ, an influential religious congregation influential in the
Vatican since the time of Pope John Paul.
Two years after the death at the end of January 2008 of Marcial Maciel, whom
the Vatican retired into "penitence," two of his sons alleged sexual and
other abuses suffered at the hands of their father, particularly during
times they travelled together.
Their mother, Blanca Estela Lara, says she knew Marcial Maciel in 1976 when
she was 19 years old and he was 56. She already had a son by another man
before she had two more with the priest. She says she did not know his true
identity because he supplied her with papers under different names in order
to legally recognize his children and to adopt the eldest. To justfiy his
absences, Marcial Maciel claimed he was an executive with Shell. He also
pretended to be a detective, and even a CIA agent.
It was not until 1997, twenty years after they met, that an article with
photos appeared in a Mexican publication and opened the young woman's eyes.
"I never had the slightest inkling," she told MVS. "I adored him. One day I
even told him that he was like a god to me." She broke with him in 1999
after her youngest son revealed the sexual abuse to her.
Marcial Maciel's power of seduction allowed him to accumulate a considerable
fortune, which he kept well hidden, and to control a vast network of
complicity. A very conservative organization, the Legion operates in
twenty-two countries and has founded dozens of educational institutions
catering to the the most elite members of society. In Mexico it has educated
the children of billionaire Carlos Slim, the third richest man in the world,
as well as those of other extremely wealthy entrepreneurs, including the
owner of Televisa.
THE LEGION ASKS FOR FORGIVENESS
For a long time Fr. Maciel seemed untouchable. Strong pressure has been
exerted on the Mexican media which began broaching the taboo subject in 1997
following a twist in a story published in the United States: After suffering
in silence for forty years, eight former legionaries decided to demand a
canonical trial of Fr. Maciel, from which the church spared him.
On Thursday, March 4 the Legion asked for forgiveness from the children of
its founder as well as from his other victims. "In recent years we have
learned little by little, with great surprise and much pain, of hidden
aspects of the life of Fr. Maciel," its communique states.
In February 2009 the order had to admit the existence of "at least one
daughter" in Madrid, but she was soon joined by several other descendants in
Europe and Mexico. The victims feel the order's excuses are marred by
hypocrisy and serve to conceal the responsibility of its leadership.
A financial question remains unanswered. The Legion insists that in January
it refused an offer from the youngest son of Ms. Lara not to reveal the
incidents of incest in exchange for 26 million dollars (19.1 million euros),
6 million of which was promised by Fr. Maciel as an inheritance.
In May 2009 the church opened an investigation into the Legion of Christ.
According to a Vatican spokesperson its conclusions will not be known for
several months. But Benedict XVI, to whom Maciel's family has made a public
appeal, will undoubtedly have to come to a decision before the beatification
of John Paul II, scheduled for October.
Joëlle Stolz
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