New Scrutiny for a Bequest to an Order of Catholics

By Sharon Otterman
New York Times
February 15, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/16/us/documents-on-bequest-to-legion-of-christ-are-released.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1361016914-1EY5QT681QQYhKWV+vOKDA&_r=0

When Gabrielle D. Mee, a wealthy Rhode Island widow, left her $60 million fortune to a powerful Catholic order called the Legion of Christ in 2008, revelations had already begun to surface that its charismatic founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, had molested under-age seminarians and fathered several children.

But a niece of Mrs. Mee, Mary Lou Dauray, came to believe that her aunt must have been kept in the dark about Father Maciel’s misdeeds, so that her fortune would go to the order. On Friday, thousands of pages of documents in a 2009 lawsuit that Mrs. Dauray filed were released to the public, shedding additional light on how the Legion managed information about its founder and came to control Mrs. Mee’s money.

The documents had been sealed by the court, but several news organizations, including The New York Times, sued to have them released. A Rhode Island judge ruled on Thursday that there was no reason they should not be made public. They had not been fully reviewed by The Times by Friday night.

They include depositions given by top leaders of the Legion, including the Rev. Luis Garza, the current head of the Legion’s North American operations.

Widowed in 1985, Mrs. Mee pledged her life to the order at age 80, and she promised that she would eventually release her assets to the organization. The papers explain how the order came to control most aspects of her life and include a deposition, given for another lawsuit, in which she explained how happy she was living with the order.

Mrs. Dauray’s lawsuit was dismissed by a Rhode Island Superior Court judge last year, after he ruled that she lacked the legal standing to dispute the terms of her aunt’s will. Bernard A. Jackvony, Mrs. Dauray’s lawyer, said on Friday that he was filing an appeal.

“She was a very believing and trusting woman,” said Mrs. Dauray, 72, who lives in California. She said she wanted her aunt’s fortune to go to other Catholic charities. “I know that she wouldn’t have given this money if she had known about the founder,” she said.