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	Pope Disciplines Legionaries' Founder By Nicole Winfield The Associated Press, carried in El Diario May 20, 2006 http://www.diario.com.mx/nota.asp?notaid=0a07530203c07fbf99e8cbadbab2001a VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI disciplined the founder of the conservative Legionaries of Christ, a favorite of Pope John Paul II who for decades has been dogged by sexual abuse allegations ? effectively making the elderly prelate a priest in name only. In its announcement Friday the Vatican did not say whether it had determined if the accusations against the 86-year-old Mexican priest, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, were true. But canon law experts said the Vatican would not have imposed such a severe penalty unless it found at least some validity to the complaints. The Vatican said its Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had "invited the priest to a reserved life of prayer and penance, renouncing every public ministry," ? meaning he cannot celebrate Mass or other sacraments in public. Maciel is the most prominent Catholic Church official to be disciplined by the Vatican for alleged involvement in child sexual abuse. In addition, it marks the first major abuse penalty approved by Benedict since he became pope last year, and shows he is not afraid pursuing prelates who enjoyed particular favor with Pope John Paul II. Since 1998, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Benedict headed before he became pope, has been investigating allegations by former seminarians that Maciel sexually abused them. Initially, nine former seminarians said Maciel had abused them when they were young boys or teenagers in Roman Catholic seminaries in Spain and Italy in the 1940s-1960s. Later, others came forward. Maciel and the Legionaries strongly denied the allegations. On Friday, the Legionaries said in a statement that Maciel, while declaring himself innocent, accepted the Vatican decision "with faith, complete serenity and tranquility of conscience." The prelate's whereabouts were unknown. Saul Barrales, 74, one of the original nine accusers, praised the Vatican's action. "Pope John Paul II supported him, but I think he was deceived or he wasn't totally informed of the truth. But the present pope is doing the right thing. ... He (Maciel) did so much damage to so many people," Barrales said from Mexico City. In a statement, the Vatican said it had investigated all the allegations against Maciel but had decided against proceeding with a full-fledged church trial, or "canonical process" against him, because of his age and ill health. The Rev. John Coughlin, professor of canon law at the University of Notre Dame Law School, said such a penalty was common for elderly clerical abusers. Although Maciel was not removed from the priesthood, Coughlin said the Vatican sanction was still a "very serious penalty." "The Vatican wouldn't have taken this action if they thought he was totally innocent," Coughlin said. The Legionaries of Christ, which Maciel founded in 1941 in Mexico City, is one of the fastest-growing religious orders in the Catholic Church with more than 600 priests and 2,500 seminarians in 20 countries in North and South America, Europe and Australia. It was well-regarded by John Paul in particular because of its conservative views, loyalty to church teaching and because it has been so successful in recruiting.
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