Pope Benedict threw his authority behind a new and uncompromising approach to sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church on Friday when he ordered one of its most influential figures, who faces multiple allegations, to give up his ministry and retire to a life of "prayer and repentance."
A statement issued by the Vatican said 86-year-old Father Marcial Maciel, the founder of the ultra-orthodox Legion of Christ, had only escaped a full trial in an ecclesiastical court because of his "advanced age [and] frail health."
Father Maciel's case had been repeatedly shelved by Church leaders over a period of 30 years.
The statement made a point of noting that the sanctions against the priest had been personally endorsed by the pontiff.
His landmark ruling astonished and delighted campaigners for the victims of abuse. It represented a clear departure from the timorous policy of John Paul II, and appeared to be a first step toward fulfilling the new pontiff's vow to sweep "filth" from the Church.
The Legion said in a statement that its founder maintained his innocence but accepted the Vatican's decision with "faith, complete serenity and tranquillity of conscience."
It said he considered the ruling "a new cross that God, the father of mercy, has allowed him to suffer and that will obtain many graces for the Legion of Christ."
Father Maciel is revered by tens of thousands of followers in more than 20 countries. His official biography gives his distinguishing characteristic as "his strong commitment to the family."
Church leaders have described how the late pope would highlight their shortcomings by contrasting them unfavorably with Father Maciel.
In 1991, pope John Paul presided at a mass ordination of Legionaries at St Peter's and three years later made their founder a permanent adviser to the Vatican department responsible for priests.
The US-based Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests welcomed Pope Benedict's decision as a "wise and compassionate step."
The organization added: "We deeply appreciate that, at the highest levels of the Church, action has been taken against such an extraordinarily high-ranking Catholic leader."
Allegations of sex abuse have been the subject of controversy within the Roman Catholic Church ever since they burst into the open in the US four years ago.
However, Father Maciel was first accused in 1976, when the case against him was taken up by a US bishop.
The allegations concerned his behavior toward young seminarians in Spain and Italy in the 1940s and 1950s. Documents sent to the Vatican were ignored on three occasions.
But in 1991, seven other former Legionaries accused Father Maciel of abusing them, and the following year a case was lodged with the Vatican department of which Pope Benedict, the former Cardinal Ratzinger, was then head. Once again, proceedings were halted.
DOUBLE-MURDER CASE: The officer told the dispatcher he would check the locations of the callers, but instead headed to a pizzeria, remaining there for about an hour A New Jersey officer has been charged with misconduct after prosecutors said he did not quickly respond to and properly investigate reports of a shooting that turned out to be a double murder, instead allegedly stopping at an ATM and pizzeria. Franklin Township Police Sergeant Kevin Bollaro was the on-duty officer on the evening of Aug. 1, when police received 911 calls reporting gunshots and screaming in Pittstown, about 96km from Manhattan in central New Jersey, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee Robeson’s office said. However, rather than responding immediately, prosecutors said GPS data and surveillance video showed Bollaro drove about 3km
‘MOTHER’ OF THAILAND: In her glamorous heyday in the 1960s, former Thai queen Sirikit mingled with US presidents and superstars such as Elvis Presley The year-long funeral ceremony of former Thai queen Sirikit started yesterday, with grieving royalists set to salute the procession bringing her body to lie in state at Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Members of the royal family are venerated in Thailand, treated by many as semi-divine figures, and lavished with glowing media coverage and gold-adorned portraits hanging in public spaces and private homes nationwide. Sirikit, the mother of Thai King Vajiralongkorn and widow of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch, died late on Friday at the age of 93. Black-and-white tributes to the royal matriarch are being beamed onto towering digital advertizing billboards, on
Tens of thousands of people on Saturday took to the streets of Spain’s eastern city of Valencia to mark the first anniversary of floods that killed 229 people and to denounce the handling of the disaster. Demonstrators, many carrying photos of the victims, called on regional government head Carlos Mazon to resign over what they said was the slow response to one of Europe’s deadliest natural disasters in decades. “People are still really angry,” said Rosa Cerros, a 42-year-old government worker who took part with her husband and two young daughters. “Why weren’t people evacuated? Its incomprehensible,” she said. Mazon’s
POWER ABUSE WORRY: Some people warned that the broad language of the treaty could lead to overreach by authorities and enable the repression of government critics Countries signed their first UN treaty targeting cybercrime in Hanoi yesterday, despite opposition from an unlikely band of tech companies and rights groups warning of expanded state surveillance. The new global legal framework aims to bolster international cooperation to fight digital crimes, from child pornography to transnational cyberscams and money laundering. More than 60 countries signed the declaration, which means it would go into force once ratified by those states. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the signing as an “important milestone,” and that it was “only the beginning.” “Every day, sophisticated scams destroy families, steal migrants and drain billions of dollars from our economy...
RSS