Marcial Maciel
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.
Marcial Maciel LC | |
|---|---|
| 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 |
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
- 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.