about the age of Maciel's victims. When you see this innocent face any thoughts of victims being "willing accomplices" should fall by the wayside. It was a grown man hitting on kids.
[photo from memoir Our Father Maciel who art in bed]
-Who are we?
-An organization that engenders and hides pedophiles
The blogger learned about this today; the tip of the iceberg, and once again, the Legion wants to control the problem and the outcome. Let us hope that the Vatican does a thorough job. Maybe Mons. Scicluna, the Vatican Attorney General, had something to do with this.
Common sense dictated that if Maciel sexually abused so many young men, some of them would in turn become abusers
The Legion always wants to give the impression that they are in control, that they had taken steps before, that the damage is contained, that...
11 May 2012 Last updated at 09:00 ET
The order's founder, Marcial Maciel (L), was for a long time admired by Pope John Paul II (R)
The order's founder, Marcial Maciel (L), was for a long time admired by Pope John Paul II (R)
The Vatican is reported to be investigating seven priests of the Legion of Christ order in connection with allegations of child abuse.
In a statement to the AP news agency, the Mexican order said seven cases had been referred to the Vatican's department that deals with sex crimes.
The Legion of Christ's founder, Marcial Maciel, sexually abused many boys and young men over a period of 30 years.
He was disciplined by the Vatican in 2006 over the abuse.
One of the cases being investigated in relation to the seven priests is recent, while others date back several decades, the order said in the statement given to AP.
The investigation will be handled by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that investigates allegations of sexual abuse.
While it is under way, the suspects will be kept away from children.
'Immoral acts'
"Over the past few years, in several countries, the major superiors of the Legion of Christ have received some allegations of gravely immoral acts and more serious offences... committed by some legionaries," AP quoted the statement as saying.
The order has previously insisted that Fr Maciel was an isolated case.
The BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome says that if these new allegations are proven it will show that the rot in the order had spread beyond its disgraced leader.
In 2009, the Church launched an investigation into the order after Fr Maciel, who died in 2008, was also revealed to have fathered a daughter by a mistress.
A year later, Pope Benedict XVI appointed an envoy to implement a complete overhaul of the Legion of Christ, saying it had to be "purified".
The previous pope, John Paul II, long held up Fr Maciel as a model to the faithful, despite persistent allegations of sexual abuse, which were later proven.
In recent years, the Church has been rocked by cases of paedophilia by priests, and accusations that it did not do enough to investigate the
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VATICAN CITY- AP -- The Vatican is investigating seven priests from the troubled Legion of Christ religious order for alleged sexual abuse of minors and another two for other alleged crimes, ----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Associated Press has learned.
The investigations mark the first known Vatican action against Legion priests for alleged sexual assault following the scandal of the Legion's founder, who was long held up as a model by the Vatican despite credible accusations - later proven - that he raped and molested his seminarians.
The Legion, which is now under Vatican receivership, has insisted that the crimes of its late founder, the Rev. Marciel Maciel, were his alone.
But the Vatican investigation of other Legion priests indicates that the same culture of secrecy that Maciel created within the order to cover his crimes enabled other priests to abuse children - just as abusive clergy of other religious orders and dioceses have done around the world.
In a statement Friday to the AP, the Legion confirmed it had referred seven cases of alleged abuse to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that investigates sex crimes. All but one involves alleged abuse dating from decades ago; one case involves recent events, the Legion said.
While the investigation is under way, the accused priests are being kept away from children, the Legion said.
"Over the past few years, in several countries, the major superiors of the Legion of Christ have received some allegations of gravely immoral acts and more serious offenses ... committed by some Legionaries," the statement said.
It said it was committed to examining the accusations and reaching out to victims while safeguarding the rights of all involved.
The Legion issued the statement to the AP after the news organization approached it with the allegations; the Legion simultaneously sent the statement out to all priests in the order.
The steps the Legion said it had taken follow the norms required of religious orders. That said, the investigations have only recently begun and many of these accusations are old and presumably were previously known to its leadership.
In addition to referring the cases to the Vatican as required by church law, the Legion said it had referred cases to police where civil reporting laws require it. It's not clear, however, if any law enforcement action was taken given the statute of limitations may have expired for such old cases.
The Legion said two other priests are also under investigation by the Congregation for alleged sacramental violations, believed to involve using pastoral activities such as spiritual direction to have inappropriate relations with women.
Preliminary investigations of an unspecified number of other priests accused of abuse found them innocent, the Legion said.
The scandal of Maciel and the Legion ranks as one of the worst of the 20th-century Catholic Church, since he was held up as a model for the faithful by Pope John Paul II. The orthodox order, which has about 900 priests around the world, was praised for attracting both money and vocations to the priesthood.
Documentation from Vatican archives, however, has shown that as early as the 1950s, the Vatican had evidence that he was a drug addict and pedophile.
Only in 2006 did the Vatican sanction Maciel to a lifetime of penance and prayer for his crimes. He died in 2008 and a year later the Legion admitted he had fathered three children with two different women and had abused his seminarians.
[...]
"I would like to say I am glad about this (investigation), but I am honestly not hopeful that anything will come of it," A.L, a victim of another lc priest stated.
Genevieve Kinecke, who runs a blog about the Legion and its lay movement Regnum Christi said the investigations confirm that the problems within the Legion did not die with Maciel and are still hurting the order today.
"For all the good that the Legion has done, this must also be considered as 'fruit' associated with the group, for that is how they justify their ongoing existence," she told The Associated Press. "Surely now, they will stop recruiting for the time being to be sure that they have the proper foundation to support healthy vocations."
