Marcial Maciel

Marcial Maciel Degollado (March 10, 1920 – January 30, 2008) was a Mexican Catholic priest who 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" and as a prolific recruiter of new seminarians.

Late in his life, Maciel was revealed to have been a longtime drug addict who sexually abused many boys and young men in his care.

After his death, it came to light that he had also maintained sexual relationships with at least four 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 sexually abused.

"The day before Bishop Guizar died, he had been heard shouting angrily at Marcial Maciel. He was giving his eighteen-year-old nephew a dressing down after two women had come to the bishop's house to complain about Maciel, who was their neighbor. Father Orozco, who was among the original group of boys to found the Legion of Christ in 1941, said he heard the women had complained about the 'noise' Maciel was making with children he had brought into his home to teach religion. He said that the seminary officials blamed Maciel for his uncle's heart attack."

Maciel founded the Legion of Christ in 1941, with the support of Francisco González Arias, Bishop of Cuernavaca.

From the beginning, he served as its general director.

Maciel was expelled from two seminaries for reasons that have never been revealed, and became a priest only after one of his bishop uncles ordained him after private studies, on November 26, 1944, in Mexico City.

The ordination was filmed and the footage used in later years for marketing.

In 1959 Maciel founded its lay arm Regnum Christi.

All Legionaries were compelled "to take private vows, never to speak ill of Maciel or any superiors, and to report to their superiors anyone who did", facilitating a "cult of personality" according to Jason Berry.

In Regnum Christi discussion groups, followers studied Maciel's letters.

Maciel wrote extensively on the formation of priests and other matters pertaining to Church governance.

His main stated purpose for the Legion of Christ was to form and motivate enterprising lay members of the Catholic Church to take an active part in the Church's mission.

In particular, this initiative focused on the members of Regnum Christi, for example, through spiritual direction.

Through the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi, Maciel started many schools, a network of universities, and numerous charitable institutes.

Until his misdeeds became public, Maciel was well-regarded at the Vatican.

He accompanied Pope John Paul II on his visits to Mexico in 1979, 1990, and 1993, and was appointed by the Pope to the Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Formation of Priests in Circumstances of the Present Day (1990).

He was a member of the Interdicasterial Commission for a Just Distribution of Clergy (1991), the IV General Conference of Latin American Bishops (CELAM) (1992), the Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Consecrated Life and Its Role in the Church and in the World (1994), the Synod of Bishops' Special Assembly for America (1997) and (since 1994) as a permanent consultant to the Congregation for the Clergy.

The golden anniversary of his priestly ordination was celebrated on 26 November 1994, with 57 Legionary priests ordained the day prior.

Maciel served as Chancellor of the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, which is based in Rome.

Maciel collaborated extensively with Pope John Paul II, either in person or through members of his organization, the Legion of Christ.

The pope admired Maciel for strictly adhering to the magisterium and the vocations to the Legion of Christ.

Maciel received many donations from Mexico's richest persons.

In addition, Maciel and the Legion gave the Vatican considerable funding over many years.

While many believe that Pope John Paul II was blinded by trust of Maciel, a journalist has speculated that this financial influence was the reason the Church postponed acting on allegations of sexual abuse by Maciel.

In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI removed Maciel from active ministry, based on the results of an investigation that he had started in his previous role as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith before his election as Pope in April 2005.

Maciel was ordered "to conduct a reserved life of prayer and penance, renouncing every public ministry".

Maciel was the grand-nephew of Bishop Rafael Guízar y Valencia, who was canonized in 2007.

There has been speculation that conduct by Maciel at age 18 contributed to the death of Guizar, who had a heart attack.

According to an investigative report:

He died in 2008.

On March 25, 2010, a communiqué on the Legion's website acknowledged as factual the "reprehensible actions" by Maciel, including sexual abuse of minor seminarians.

In May 2010, the Vatican denounced Maciel's actions and appointed a Papal Delegate to oversee the order and its governance.

Maciel was born in Cotija, Michoacán, Mexico, the youngest boy of nine children, to a family with strong connections within the Catholic Church in Mexico.

Numerous relatives were priests, and four of his uncles were bishops.

He had a troubled youth: his father ridiculed him and encouraged his brothers to whip him.

He sent the boy to work in the sugar fields to toughen him up, and years later Maciel told one of his own victims that mule drivers on his father's ranch had sexually abused him.