Eight victims seek damages from Legion of Christ for sexual abuse
VATICAN CITY — Eight victims of the Roman Catholic Church’s most notorious pedophile are pressing the Legion of Christ religious order to compensate them for the sexual abuse they say they endured and psychological harm resulting from the order’s prolonged campaign to discredit them.
The men, some of whom are suffering financial and medical hardships as they age, sent a letter to the Legion’s leadership seeking public recognition of their status as victims of Rev. Marcial Maciel and the Mexicobased order — once one of the fastest-growing congregations in the church.
The letter, obtained by the Associated Press, is the latest indication that clergy abuse victims are increasingly demanding recognition and apologies not just for their abuse, but for the retaliation often inflicted on them by church leaders.
Just this week, Pope Francis acknowledged making “grave errors” in discrediting abuse victims in Chile, and begged their forgiveness.
There was no comment Thursday from the Legion.
The letter underscores the still-unfinished business surrounding the scandal over Maciel, despite the Legion’s efforts to move on.
The charismatic preacher was beloved by the Vatican but turned out to be a drug addict who sexually abused his seminarians, fathered three children and created a cult-like order to hide his double life.
The Vatican knew of allegations against him since the 1950s, but only took action against him in 2006. He died in 2008.
In the letter, the victims asked that a compensation commission, which had been active during a Vatican-mandated period of reform after Maciel’s crimes were exposed in 2009, be reopened to consider their cases.
For a variety of reasons, the eight men never approached the original commission, and they lamented that the commission never contacted them.
The men, all Mexican citizens who lodged the original official church complaint against Maciel in 1998, called for the commission to develop a plan of action to “determine the harm inflicted on us and its indispensable reparation.”
Jose Barba, who signed the letter on behalf of his fellow former seminarians, said he never approached the original compensation commission because he didn’t trust it.
He said he was participating in the new initiative because some victims are truly hurting financially and deserve reparation.
“We believe this is worthwhile,” Barba said.