MEXICO
IPS
Diego Cevallos
MEXICO CITY, Mar 11 (IPS) - Some 50,000 followers of the Legionaries of Christ, a conservative Catholic congregation founded in Mexico and viewed with favour by the Vatican, will set out later this month to distribute donations and doctrine to the poor in 31 different countries -- while fervently striving to defend their founder, accused of pedophilia.
The Legionaries tend to recruit their members from wealthy families and are openly endorsed by Pope John Paul II.
During the upcoming Holy Week, Mar. 20-27, thousands of young people from the Legionaries-sponsored Missionary Youth and Families organisation will take part in a so-called ”Megamission”, bringing ”spiritual” and material aid, like medical supplies, to poor communities around the world.
This initiative ”is a wide-reaching strategy for social penetration by one of the most conservative congregations in the Catholic Church, along with Opus Dei, and thus one of the most highly blessed by the Pope,” Mexican academic and religious expert Pablo Mora told IPS.