The pope met Thursday with the head of the Legionaries of Christ before an expected announcement about who will take charge of the conservative order scarred by revelations that its founder sexually abused seminarians and fathered at least one child.The Vatican said the Legionaries' superior general, the Rev. Alvaro Corcuera Martinez del Rio, met with Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience but gave no details.
The Vatican announced May 1 that the pope had decided to appoint a delegate to take charge of the order after an eight-month investigation showed that it needed to be profoundly re-evaluated and purified to survive, given the enormous influence the late founder had on it.
The Holy See said the founder, the Rev. Marciel Maciel, had committed grave and "objectively immoral actions" that constituted true crimes in some cases and showed a "life devoid of scruples and authentic religious meaning."
The statement was shocking, since Maciel had enjoyed such favor at the Vatican under Pope John Paul II, who admired the order's conservative bent and its success in bringing in new vocations and fundraising at a time when numbers of priests were on the decline.
Maciel had been dogged for decades by allegations that he had sexually abused seminarians, but the Vatican never took firm action against him and the Maciel case today stands as one of the most glaring examples of Vatican inaction in the face of sex abuse allegations.
Only in 2006, after on again-off again investigations, did the Vatican sentence Maciel to lead a "reserved life of penance and prayer," although it didn't say what for. He died in 2008 at age 87.
In February 2009, the Legionaries acknowledged that Maciel had fathered at least one child who is now in her 20s and lives in Spain. And in March of this year it acknowledged that Maciel had also sexually abused seminarians and that two men are claiming to be his sons.
It's not clear what role Corcuera will have in the Legionaries' future. Critics say he and others in the Legionaries' current leadership couldn't have been unaware of Maciel's double life.
In its May 1 statement, the Vatican said Maciel's secret life was "unknown to the great majority of the Legionaries." But it didn't say all were kept in the dark, suggesting that a few must have known something.
In an internal memo sent from Legionaries' headquarters to territorial leaders after the Vatican communique, the Legionaries said that meant that the Vatican had determined that "those who are currently in the leadership of the Legion" didn't know about his misdeeds.
The communique says no such thing.
Jim Fair, a U.S. spokesman for the Legion, said the memo "wasn't in any way an attempt to interpret or deny or in any way change the meaning," of the Vatican statement, "but simply to suggest to people that they needed to read it."
Also unclear is the extent of power that the pope's delegate will have, particularly if the current leadership remains in place.
The Vatican hasn't described the scope of the delegate's work, or whether he will also control the Legionaries' financial assets.
SIC: AP