Marcial Maciel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
P. Marcial Maciel LC, late 2004

Marcial Maciel Degollado (born March 10, 1920 in Cotija de la Paz , Michoacán , Mexico , † January 30, 2008 in Jacksonville ) was a Mexican Catholic priest and the founder of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ . Because of numerous sexual crimes , he had to resign in 2006 from the leadership of the order.

Life

According to the official biography, Marcial Maciel received the call to the priesthood in 1934. In 1936 he entered the Minor Seminary of the Diocese of Veracruz , then illegal in Mexico City, presided over by his uncle Rafael Guizar y Valencia , Bishop of Veracruz, who was appointed in 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI. was canonized . In June of the same year he is said to have received the call to found a new religious order. After the death of his uncle, the student was released from the seminary at his own initiative. He then went to the Diocese of Chihuahua, where another uncle, Antonio Guizar y Valencia , was bishop. As a seminarian from the diocese of Chihuahua , he was admitted to the interdiocesan seminary of Montezuma, New Mexico , which was run by Jesuits .

In 1939 Maciel was also expelled from the seminary by the Diocese of Chihuahua. He turned to another uncle, Francisco Gonzalez Arias , Bishop of Cuernavaca. So he was able to continue his studies in Montezuma as a seminarian of this diocese, but was released again in 1940 by the Jesuits. Maciel always claimed that these dismissals were because of his "God willed" attempts to found a new religious community with some seminarians, but this was disapproved by the superiors. Other biographers have instead cited homosexual tendencies as the reason that superiors discovered.

Maciel's continued preparation for the priesthood was reportedly under the supervision of his uncle, Francesco Gonzalez Arias. In 1941 he founded the "Congregation of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and Sorrowful Mother" in Mexico City. Most of the early seminarians later left the fellowship. Maciel was ordained a priest by his uncle Gonzalez Arias in 1944 in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

As early as 1946 Maciel was by Pope Pius XII. received in audience. In the same year the rector of the Pontifical University of Comillas in Santander , Spain , the Jesuit Francisco Baeza, made a trip to Latin America to offer scholarships to young seminarians. Thanks to his friendship with Alberto Martín-Artajo , the foreign minister of the Franco regime, Baeza enabled Maciel to train the first seminarians in Spain. But as early as 1948, the Spanish Jesuits sent Maciel and his seminarians away from Comillas for reasons unknown.

Maciel received canonical approbation for his congregation under diocesan law in 1948 through the newly appointed bishop of Cuernavaca, Alfonso Espino y Silva . According to his own statements, Maciel founded his Catholic lay movement Regnum Christi as early as 1949 . In 2005 he retired from leading the congregation for reasons of age. After a church investigation into allegations of long-term sexual abuse, he withdrew to a life of prayer and penance on instructions from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and refrained from making any further public appearances. He died on January 30, 2008 in Jacksonville, Florida USA at the age of 87. The funeral Maciel took place in private. No representative from the Vatican was present. He found his final resting place at the beginning of February 2008 in his birthplace Cotija.

Field of activity

His life's work is the founding and building of the Catholic Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi. Both his person and his organizations were accompanied by hostility and criticism outside and within the church. Nonetheless, Maciel soon obtained official recognition within the church and confirmation from the respective church authorities for his foundation and his work. This took place from the beginning on a diocesan level through the affected bishops and later at the level of the entire Catholic Church through the respective popes.

In terms of content, it stood out after the Second Vatican Council through an outwardly demonstrated loyalty to the Catholic teaching office. His work and his writings have been recognized and honored repeatedly by Pope John Paul II . Maciel's book El salterio de mis días , which was widely circulated within the order, was later recognized as plagiarism. In the 1980s, Macial added the so-called special vow of charity to the order of the Legionaries of Christ , which forbade speaking about negative internal processes in the order and expressing criticism of the superiors. Pope John Paul II promoted Maciel and his congregation and publicly praised them, which the Pope was later blamed for. Maciel accompanied Pope John Paul II on the first three of his five trips to Mexico in 1979, 1990 and 1993. He publicly presented Maciel as a "role model for the youth" and congratulated him on November 30, 2004 on his 60th anniversary as a priest.

Maciel traveled widely around the world to promote the movement. The Order has been able to set up several institutes, priest training centers and a university, the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum , in Rome . In 2004 Pope John Paul II entrusted Maciel with the management of the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem in a ceremony .

criticism

accusations

Since the early 1960s, there were repeated allegations against Maciel. He was charged with substance abuse , among other things . In 1997, nine former seminarians (a statement indirectly dictated by a deathbed two years earlier) declared that they were sexually abused by Maciel in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s when they were between ten and sixteen years old. They also reported more than 30 boys who had also been molested. These are said to have been committed to secrecy by vow of silence. The Congregation's statement denied all allegations and identified Maciel as a victim of a conspiracy by men with personal feuds against him. The law firm working for the Order produced statements from four lay people accusing the victims of attempting to recruit the lay people on false allegations. A tenth person withdrew their allegations.

In 2002, Maciel issued a statement denying the allegations. At the beginning of February 2009 the first rumors emerged that Father Maciel had several children and led a double life.

Investigations by the Vatican

From 1956 to 1958 there was a Vatican investigation into drug abuse, misused funds, and other improprieties that did not involve sexual misconduct. However, general questions were asked about where the abuse could have come to light. Victims who made accusations in 1997 lied out of a kind of obedience and fear for their own careers and called him a saint, as they had been told for years. During this time, Maciel was suspended as director and allegedly wrote a book that much later turned out to be plagiarism (→ Confirmed Facts ). In the official story from 1995 this time is not mentioned. Legionaries referred to them as "The War".

In 1976 Juan Vaca personally delivered a letter to Maciel explaining why he was leaving the congregation, with the names of 20 victims. He gave a copy of it in 1978 to John R. McGann , then bishop of the Rockville Center diocese , where Vaca was a priest. This was sent to the Vatican with a corroborating letter from the victim Felix Alarcon and other documents, which received it and returned a case number. When Vaca left the priesthood in 1989, he wrote a letter to the Pope, where he mentioned the abuse again. There were no noticeable reactions to it.

In 1999 Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, began a canonical investigation. This was not completed in 2002. The reasons for this are not known.

Shortly before the death of John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger opened a new investigation in January 2005 after the Vatican became aware of new allegations. The proceedings were led by the Congregation's Chief Prosecutor, Monsignor Charles Scicluna . He conducted interviews with around 20 people in Mexico, including some (alleged) victims of Maciel.

On May 16, 2006, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith requested Father Maciel, who, in view of his health, renounced long canonical criminal proceedings, to withdraw from the public and lead a life of penance and prayer. Thereupon he had to withdraw from the leadership of the order and refrain from any further public appearance. His poor health saved Maciel from certain canonical criminal proceedings. This decision was made by Pope Benedict XVI. approved on May 26, 2005 (five weeks after his election as Pope).

In January 2019, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz , Prefect of the Congregation for the Order , declared that the Vatican had already received the first documents on sexual abuse by Degollado in 1943; his congregation had nothing to do with their cover-up.

Confirmed Facts

The abuse of underage boarding students of the so-called Apostolic Schools ( boys' seminars ) is now considered proven. After a message u. a. of Vatican Radio Maciel "abused young seminarians and in confession gave them absolution for sexual acts committed together." The legionaries of Christ have now also admitted the sexual abuse of seminarians.

The visitation was carried out by five bishops: Archbishops Charles Chaput ( Denver ), Ricardo Ezzati ( Archdiocese of Concepción ), Ricardo Blázquez ( Valladolid ) and Bishops Ricardo Watty Urquidi ( Tepic ) and Giuseppe Versaldi ( Alessandria ). They reported to Cardinal Bertone in Rome on April 30, 2010 . It was announced that the Pope would temporarily appoint a new head of the Order within the next few weeks.

On May 1, 2010, the Vatican published a declaration from the Pope to the legionaries of Christ. It says u. a .: "The extremely serious and objectively immoral behavior of Fr. Maciel, which has been confirmed by incontrovertible evidence, sometimes consists of real crimes and reveals a ruthless life with no real religious meaning."

The fatherhood of several children has also been confirmed as correct by a spokesman for the congregation. The founder's illegitimate children - Raúl González Lara and Omar Lara Gutiérrez - accused their birth father of sexually abusing themselves in 2010. The Legionaries of Christ published a press release stating that Maciel had relationships with two women who had children.

Maciel's supposed book El salterio de mis días ( Psalter of my days ), which had played an important role in the history of the legionaries, turned out to be plagiarism in 2009 . Previously, Maciel was said to have written it during a crisis in 1956–1959 when the Holy See was investigating him into grave moral charges. The legionaries of Christ confirmed that it was a plagiarism of the book El salterio de mis horas ( Psalter of my hours ) by Luis Lucia , of which 80% of the content and style were found in Maciel's book. The original by Lucia was published in Valencia in 1956.

Distancing the legionnaires from their founder

After his death, the order distanced itself from the formerly highly venerated - literally - "father" and removed all pictures of the founder from the religious houses. The order leadership apologized for the behavior of its founder and distanced itself from it. According to the Pope, the serious crisis of the legionaries of Christ came about because of the “system of relationships that Father Maciel had built, who had managed to obtain alibis, to gain trust, confidentiality and silence from those around him and to strengthen his role as a charismatic founder ”.

Obviously, during Maciel's lifetime, a personality cult around Maciel was established among the legionaries of Christ, which remained firmly anchored even after his death and after his double life became known. As reported Vatican Radio and the Catholic news agency KNA that this is to be terminated by decision of the papal delegate and the Order Department with immediate effect, "Maciel veneration by the Legionaries of Christ sometimes wore traits of a personality cult. Maciel's writings are also no longer allowed to be sold in the offices of the Congregation. In addition, Maciel's birthday, baptism, name day and priestly ordination are no longer festive days. In publications of the Order, the founder may only be spoken of as 'Father Maciel' or as 'Founder of the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi' without any particular respect. "

Fonts

See also

Web links

Documents and writings from the Vatican to Fr Maciel:

Newspaper articles:

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b The New York Times: Vatican Punishes a Leader After Abuse Charges. May 19, 2006
  2. ↑ La Legión de Cristo reconoce que Maciel plagió el libro de mística "El salterio de mis días" . ( Memento of June 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Religión en Libertad, December 12, 2009.
  3. ^ Criticism of beatification: "He betrayed the poor" . Tagesschau.de of November 30, 2004 ( Memento of May 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Discurso del Santo Padre Juan Pablo II a los Legionarios de Cristo con Ocasión del 60 ° Aniverssario de la Ordenación de su fundador . Declaration by John Paul II of November 30, 2004 on vatican.va.
  4. ↑ uprait.org
  5. ^ Peter Burghardt: Catholic Church in Latin America. Realm of silence . Süddeutsche Zeitung , April 7, 2010.
  6. ↑ a b c d Head Of Worldwide Catholic Order Accused Of History Of Abuse ( Memento from February 28, 2019 in the web archive archive.today )
  7. ↑ zeit.de of April 30, 2010: zeit.de
  8. ↑ a b Christian Modehn: Legionaries of Christ - their founder Maciel a close friend of Pope John Paul II from December 13, 2009
  9. ↑ La reforma "anti-gay" de los seminarios va en serio La Cruz de California, August 2006 ( Memento from April 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ zeit.de ( zeit online, May 1, 2010) zeit.de
  11. ↑ Did the Vatican know about the abuse of the legionnaire's founder Maciel since 1943? kath.net from January 3, 2019
  12. ^ Message from the catholic portal kath.net kath.net
  13. ↑ AP report on net-tribune.de ( Memento from November 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ↑ AFP announcement: Pope to appoint new head of disgraced Legionaries order ( Memento of March 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ^ German translation of the Vatican's announcement
  16. ↑ a b of May 2, 2010
  17. ↑ Cindy Wooden: Spokesman: News that founder fathered child causes Legionaries pain ( Memento of July 29, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), message of the Catholic News Service of February 4, 2009.
  18. ↑ Zenit: Legionaries of Christ regret the behavior of the founder ( memento of June 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), February 5, 2009
  19. ↑ Hijos de Marcial Maciel lo acusan de abuso sexual
  20. ↑ José Manuel Vidal: Maciel plagió el libro de cabecera de los Legionarios ( Spanish ) El Mundo - Unidad Editorial Internet, SL December 12, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  21. ↑ La Legión de Cristo reconoce que Maciel plagió el libro de mística "El salterio de mis días" ( Memento of June 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  22. ↑ Luis Lucia Lucia - Salterio de mis horas ( Spanish ) December 13, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  23. ↑ Statement at end of Legion's annual meeting - zenit ( Memento from March 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  24. ↑ Legionaries of Christ apologize for abuse - religion.orf.at
  25. ^ Message from Vatican Radio - December 13, 2010
  26. ↑ Report of the Catholic news agency KNA - December 14th 2010. Legionaries of Christ distance themselves from the founder of the order Fr. Maciel - December 14th 2010
personal data
SURNAME Maciel, Marcial
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maciel Degollado, Marcial (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mexican Catholic priest and founder of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ
DATE OF BIRTH March 10, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Cotija de la Paz, Michoacan
DATE OF DEATH January 30, 2008
Place of death Jacksonville