From shoo-in for sainthood to disgrace as a priest - Marcial Maciel, 1920-2008
5/5/08
The Reverend Marcial Maciel once looked like a shoo-in for sainthood, but the charismatic leader of one of the most important orders in the Catholic Church has ended his life better known as the highest ranking priest ever disciplined because of sexual abuse allegations. The leader of the Legionaries of Christ - the order Maciel founded in Mexico in 1941 - informed the congregation of his death at 87 in a letter that mixed expressions of devastating loss with the news the funeral would be private.
Tags: Christianity, Sexual Abuse