A powerful Roman Catholic religious order acknowledged in a statement
on Friday that its founder, a close ally of the late Pope John Paul II,
molested seminarians and fathered several children, and it expressed
“sorrow and grief” to anyone “damaged by our founder’s actions.”
The statement was the first official admission by the Legionaries of Christ
that its charismatic Mexican founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel
Degollado, who died in 2008, was responsible for many “grave acts.”
Around two dozen people had claimed that Father Maciel’s molesting of
boys continued for decades.