Priest to Marry Mother of His Love Child after Leaving Church

By Charlotte Alter
Time
December 5, 2013

http://world.time.com/2013/12/05/priest-to-marry-mother-of-his-love-child-after-leaving-church/

Father Thomas Williams gestures during a 2011 meeting in Rome

[Washington Post]

[CBS News]

A priest who left the church after fathering a child with the daughter of one of Pope Francis’ closest advisers will marry the mother of his love child this weekend.

The former Rev. Thomas Williams, of the Legion of Christ, admitted last year to fathering a love child several years before with the daughter of Mary Anne Glendon, the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See and one of the most powerful Americans in the church. She is also one of the highest-ranking women in the Vatican.

Rev. Williams took a year off after the revelation and subsequently left the church.

He and Elizabeth Lev are set to be married on Saturday, the Associated Press reports.

The news of the love child further tarnished the already shaky reputation of the Legion of Christ after the 2009 revelation that the religious group’s founder, Rev. Marcial Maciel, was a drug addict and a pedophile who fathered numerous children.