Well. at least Pope Benedict did something right. For years, negative rumors about the late Father Marciel Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, have been circulating. The Legionaries are very influential with 800 priests in many countries and over 70,000 in its affilated lay organization, Regnum Christi. They run numerous schools, colleges and publishing companies. Along with Opus Dei, the Legionaries were one of the "darlings" of Pope John Paul II.
Then along came Pope Benedict. Things changed. After an internal investigation, Pope Benedict ordered Father Maciel to remove himself from active ministry and leadership and to lead a quiet life of prayer and penance. To his credit, the Pope did not reveal the reasons for his actions.
However, those reasons are now coming to light. Simply put, Father Maciel led a double life. He had a mistress and a daughter. He used Legionary funds to support his double life.
This is a huge blow to the entire Legionary network. The Legionaries have just begun the process of publicly recognizing that their founder led a double life. Many have mentioned that they feel betrayed. A senior staffer (a layman, not a priest) at one of the Legionary publications, has publicly apologized and feels he must repent for his past defence of Father Maciel.
As with anyone, the fact that Father Maciel sinned does not negate the positive things he accomplished. Father Maciel developed an organization that has provided significant benefits to many people. Perhaps Father Maciel had incredible foresight in making personal sacrifices to develop an organization that could survive and flourish in spite of his personal weaknesses.
Get rid of the bath water, but don't throw out the baby.
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