Saturday, March 06, 2010

Maciel now accused over abusing 'son'

Senior members of the Legion of Christ have said that they have met a man who claims to be an abused son of the late Fr Marcial Maciel.

A Mexican woman, Blanca Lara Gutierrez, told MVS radio's Carmen Aristegui on Wednesday that Maciel had two sons with her during a 20-year relationship and sexually abused one of them - as well as a son she had earlier whom Maciel had adopted, AP reports.

The sons appeared with her on the program and supported the allegations.

Fr Jesus Quirce, rector of the Legion's Universidad Anahuac in Mexico City, sent a letter to The Associated Press and other news media on Thursday confirming that he had met with Raul Gonzalez several times in 2008 and 2009, though he said Gonzalez never mentioned being molested.

Quirce did not directly confirm that Gonzalez was Maciel's son, but he said the man told him Maciel had promised to leave a trust fund of $6 million for him, his brother and his mother.

"It was a painful surprise for me to learn of this situation," Quirce wrote. "I believed in his word and in his good intentions."

The order's Mexico office also released a Jan. 12 letter written to Gonzalez by Fr Carlos Skertchly, acting as general procurator of the order.

It said Gonzalez had asked for $6 million to honor Maciel's promise and another $20 million "as compensation for your sufferings."

Skertchly said that Gonzalez told him in a phone call: "If you give me the money, I will keep quiet about the truth" - a petition the order rejected.

"In no way can we accede to your request for money in exchange for silence," Skertchly wrote. "While we value all of the pain and suffering that you have shared with us, and we deplore the evil of scandal that may follow, we will never accept petitions of this sort, which are also illicit.

"We prefer to seek and face the truth, no matter how painful it may be."
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