Vatican inquiry into child abuse may go ahead

Vatican City -

The legal investigation into serious allegations of child sex abuse against the leader of a Roman Catholic religious order, also a close ally of the Pope, is being re-opened – according to a report in today’s Observer newspaper.

Father Marcial Maciel, founding father of the Legion of Christ, an ultra-conservative group second only to Opus Dei in papal influence, received warm tributes on the 60th anniversary of his ordination from Pope John Paul II and others. But he has been dogged by persistent sex abuse allegations from eight plaintiffs since the 1960s.

A week after Maciel was honoured by the Pope, the plaintiffs received a letter from their Rome lawyer telling them that the case against him had been re-opened. It was shelved in 1999 on the extra-judicial grounds that their suffering could not compare with the threat of disillusion felt by millions of Catholics, says correspondent Jo Tuckman, writing from Mexico City.

Read the article at news from ekklesia dated 6/01/05

Search the web for this article