The Associated Press has now picked up, in English, the latest scandal alleging Maciel sexually molested his son and adopted step-son:
During a radio interview Wednesday, Lara Gutierrez charged that Maciel, who died in 2008 at age 87, sexually abused one of his two sons with her as well as a son she had from a previous relationship. The sons, now adults named Jose Raul and Omar, said the abuse went on for years.
Click here to read the whole report.
If your stomach still isn’t turning, Giselle offers an additional update at Life-After-RC:
More from a friend who speaks Spanish. First son recounts his abuse starting at age seven (including photos, for Maciel to keep as mementos). It got so bad that he became sexually confused and asked his dad if he could see a psychiatrist. MM says he knew a really good one in Spain and sends him over (to stay with “Auntie Norma” the other wife) and he begins counseling.
As a canonist, I’m trying to look at this latest revelation as dispassionately as I can. As a Catholic, I trust Pope Benedict to do the right thing with the AV. But as a parent to children in the same age range as Maciel’s when the LC founder began to abuse them, I have only one reaction: SHUT. IT. DOWN.
Pete,
It’s pretty hard too help folks who run from the truth. Never denying. Never admitting. Never quite getting to the bottom of things. But always promising to change.
“Jim Fair, a U.S.-based spokesman for the Legionaries, said he didn’t know anything more than what was broadcast in Mexico about the woman, her children and Maciel.
‘I’m shocked and disappointed at what I’ve heard'”
I don’t think the Legion’s compartmentalized defense (admitting to some things while not denying most things) is going to keep them above water much longer.
Any thoughts about the historical and sociological roots of the modern wave of religious sexual abuse? Did it start just a couple of generations ago, or has it been with us the last two millenia or more?
From my casual reading it seems that childhood sexual abuse can “handed down” from generation to generation – someone raped in childhood may have a greater chance of doing the same in adulthood. I’ve been wondering whether the modern infection may have started with Maciel and the worldwide organization he set up, or whether he’s just a link in a long generational chain of child rape.
Perhaps there are branches of the infection that sprout and spread here and there through the centuries, exacerbated by wars & revolutions and the resulting breakdowns in society.
The Legionaries of Christ is an ego cult masquerading as a Catholic religious order. This cancer needs to be cut out. Shut them down now!
It’s my understanding that the Spanish interview didn’t mention abuse of Cristian, that Blanca Lara moved away before Cristian was old enough to arouse Nuestro Padre.