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.
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a