Tornado Alley (PROG)

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(COMTEX) B: Vatican, religious order say no sex abuse investigation
of order's Mexican founder under way ( AP WorldStream )

VATICAN CITY, May 23, 2005 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- The Vatican said
Monday there was no investigation under way of allegations that the Mexican
founder of a conservative religious order sexually abused seminarians more than
30 years ago, and the Holy See had no plans to bring a church trial against the
priest.

The Legionaries of Christ said Friday that the Vatican notified them a day
earlier about the status of the case involving the Rev. Marcial Maciel
Degallado, accused in the late 1990s by nine former seminarians of abusing them
when they were boys or teenagers. The alleged abuse occurred at seminaries in
Spain and Italy during the 1940s to 1960s.

Maciel, 85, has denied the allegations and said his accusers want to defame him.

"There is no investigation under way and it is not foreseen that there will be
one in the future," a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, reiterated
Monday.

One of the men who claimed he was abused by Maciel accused the Legionaries of
lying. Another alleged victim was incredulous that the Vatican said there was no
probe under way, claiming that two Vatican officials recently traveled to Mexico
and the United States to take testimony about the allegations.

Earlier this year, news reports surfaced that the Vatican had reopened the
sexual abuse case against Maciel. But Vatican officials at the time said the
reports resulted from a misunderstanding.

The Vatican said an official from its Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, which handles clergy sex abuse cases, had contacted a lawyer for some of
the former seminarians about the case, a move mistakenly interpreted as a new
Vatican probe.

Benedettini said Monday he did not know when a decision on the case had been
made. The Vatican did not explain the reason for its decision.

The Vatican would not say whether this was the first sexual abuse case involving
a priest decided under the new pontiff, Benedict XVI or if it had been decided
when Pope John Paul II was still alive.

On Monday, one of Maciel's accusers, former priest Juan Vaca, accused the
Legionaries of lying about the investigation, saying: "They are desperate." He
told The Associated Press he was confident Benedict will find their allegations
are true.

"I don't accept the idea that this pope is going to go against himself," Vaca
said, speaking from New York. "He started something convinced that we were
saying the truth," he said, referring to Benedict's former role as the head of
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. "I don't think he's going to
turn around 180 degrees (and) say we're making a mistake."

In Mexico, another alleged victim, Jose Barba, said two investigators have taken
testimony from more than 20 people in the United States and Mexico about the
accusations. Barba was a member of the Legionaries of Christ from 1948-1962.

He noted that two Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith officials were in
Mexico on April 2 and then in the United States on April 4. If the case were
closed, "it would be very damaging for the prestige of the Holy See," Barba told
The Associated Press.

The Vatican investigated Maciel in the 1950s for alleged drug use, trafficking
and misuse of funds but not for sexual misconduct. He was suspended from his
duties as head of the order then reinstated after being cleared of all
allegations.

In January, John Paul hailed Maciel for his "paternal affection and his
experience." A few months earlier, the late pope praised Maciel on the 60th
anniversary of his ordination, citing his "intense, generous and fruitful"
priestly ministry.

Earlier this year, Maciel, citing his age, declined to be re-elected, and a
successor was chosen.

Legionaries, with their conservative emphasis on morality, had a high profile
under the papacy of John Paul. The order claims a membership of 65,000 people,
including hundreds of priests worldwide.

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Associated Press writers Matt Apuzzo in New Haven, Connecticut, and E. Eduardo
Castillo in Mexico City also contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

http://www.legionaryfacts.org

By FRANCES D'EMILIO
Associated Press Writer

Copyright 2005 Associated Press, All rights reserved

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