Marcial Maciel
Marcial Maciel | |
|---|---|
| 1st General Director of the Legion of Christ | |
 | |
| Church | Latin Church |
| Installed | January 3, 1941 |
| Term ended | January 20, 2005 |
| Successor | Álvaro Corcuera |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | November 26, 1944 |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Marcial Maciel Degollado |
| Born | 10 March 1920 Cotija, Michoacán, Mexico |
| Died | 30 January 2008 (aged 87) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Buried | Michoacan |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Marcial Maciel Degollado LC (March 10, 1920 – January 30, 2008) was a Mexican Catholic priest. He founded the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi movement. He was general director of the legion from 1941 to 2005.
Throughout most of his career, he was respected within the church as "the greatest fundraiser of the modern Roman Catholic church".[1]
Late in his life, Maciel was revealed to have been for a long time a drug addict who sexually abused many boys and young men. After his death, it became known that he had sexual relationships with at least two women, one of whom was a minor at the time. He fathered as many as six children, two of whom he is alleged to have abused.[2]
In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI removed Maciel from active ministry, before his election as Pope in April 2005. Maciel was ordered "to conduct a reserved life of prayer and penance, renouncing every public ministry",[3] and died in 2008.
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Berry, Jason (April 6, 2010). "Money paved way for Maciel's influence in the Vatican". ncronline.org. National Catholic Reporter. Archived from the original on October 21, 2011. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
- ↑ Godoy, Emilio (May 3, 2010). "Pope Rewrites Epitaph for Legion of Christ Founder". IPS News. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
- ↑ "Catholic order to be overhauled after founder's abuse". BBC News. 2010-05-01. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
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