VATICAN CITY
Gulf Times
Published: Saturday, 20 May, 2006, 11:56 AM Doha Time
VATICAN CITY: The Vatican said yesterday that it had disciplined the ageing Mexican founder of an influential Catholic religious order who has been accused of sexual abuse, instructing him to retire to a life of “prayer and penitence”.
The censure of Father Marcial Maciel, 86-year-old founder of the Legionaries of Christ, is significant because he and his conservative order had found favour under the late Pope John Paul II, making the decision by Pope Benedict XVI even bolder.
The instruction was the new Pope’s first major decision involving sexual abuse charges since his election last year. Before he was elected, Benedict decried the “filth” in the Church.