Pope Reins In Catholic Order Tied to Abuse

Source: The New York Times

ROME — Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday took control of the Legionaries of Christ, a powerful and wealthy Roman Catholic religious order whose founder, a close friend of Pope John Paul II, was found to have molested seminarians and fathered several children.

The moves constituted the most direct action on sexual abuse since the most recent scandals have engulfed the church and prompted criticisms of the pope’s own handling of such cases as an archbishop in Munich and as a cardinal who led the body reviewing many sexual abuse charges.

In a statement on Saturday, the Vatican said that Benedict would appoint a special delegate to govern the Legionaries, an influential worldwide order that has been an important source of new ordinations in a church that has struggled with a shrinking priesthood in much of the developed world. It was founded in 1941 by a Mexican priest, the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado. Pope Benedict also said he would appoint a special commission to examine the Legionaries’ constitution and open an investigation into the its lay affiliate, Regnum Christi.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/world/europe/02legion.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

...shut this WHOLE perverted cult down.

"purification" he says he wants.

The Legion of Christ (LC) is a Roman Catholic congregation established in 1941 in Mexico and directed until 2004 by Fr. Marcial Maciel. It enjoyed the favor of Pope John Paul II. It has priests working in 22 countries<1>, and had 763 priests and over 1,300 seminarians as members by 2008.<2> Its lay movement Regnum Christi has approximately 70,000 members.<3> It operates centers of education (minor seminaries, seminaries, schools and/or universities) in Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Ireland, France, Germany, Canada, the United States, and the Philippines. In 2009, the Vatican ordered an apostolic visitation of the institutions of the Legionaries of Christ following disclosures of sexual impropriety by the order's late founder, Fr. Marcial Maciel.

On May 1, 2010 the Vatican issued a statement condemning Maciel as "immoral", "deprived of scruples and authentic religious feeling", and acknowledging that Maciel had committed "true crimes". Pope Benedict also said he would appoint a special commission to examine the Legionaries’ constitution and open an investigation into the its lay affiliate Regnum Christi.<4>

The Italian newsweekly L'Espresso has reported that the Legion's assets are worth euro 25 billion (US $33 billion) as of 2010.<5>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Christ

:rofl:

as the cult it is. Opus Dei is also reputed to have ties to abuse, especially psychological abuse of teens. They're said to recruit kids and teens and cut them off from their families, among other cult-like practices. Just look at www.odan.org to see what I mean.

child molester ~ I bet he does.

I wonder how much that crucifix with the Emeralds is worth.

Let him sell his cloak......

Talk about underwhelming. Isn't the Pope in control of all Roman Catholic orders anyway? And wasn't Cardinal Ratzinger in control of all child abuse reports within the Church anyway?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Christ

BTW, it's getting tiresome hearing about only litle or young boys whenever sexual abuse by priests is mentioned. Priests raped little girls, too and also abused the trust (and hero worship) of adult women, both single and married. According to Father Porter, once of Fall River, Massachusetts, who was tried for molesting hundreds of boys and girls, he just got a kick out of being the first sexual experience of an innocent.