May 19, 2006

Pope raps priest in sex abuse case

VATICAN CITY
ANSA

(ANSA) - Vatican City, May 19 - Pope Benedict has approved disciplinary action against the founder of an influential Catholic religious order who has been accused of sexual abuse .

Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, who founded the Legion of Christ order in Mexico in 1941, has been told to observe a "reserved life of prayer and penitence" and to avoid saying mass in public. The Vatican issued a statement on Friday announcing its decisions and noting that they had been approved by the pope. It did not go into details about the accusations levelled at the priest .

The move, coming at the end of a long investigation, was seen by Vatican-watchers as showing that top officials believed at least some of the allegations were true .

Posted by kshaw at May 19, 2006 11:30 AM