MEXICO
The New York Times
By RACHEL DONADIO
Published: March 24, 2012
LEÓN, Mexico — The shadow of the disgraced Mexican founder of a powerful religious order darkened the visit of Pope Benedict XVI here this weekend, as former victims and authors staged news conferences to call attention to the church’s failure to combat what they call a systemic culture of sexual abuse.
In the past week, two books released in Mexico drew new attention to longstanding questions about whether Benedict, when he was the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, acted decisively enough about the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, a Mexican priest who founded the Legionaries of Christ, once victims began coming forward claiming he had had abused them.
The media attention shows that the Maciel case is far from closed. The Vatican has said that Benedict does not plan to meet with abuse victims while in Mexico, as he has done in other countries.
After complaints of sexual abuse were filed against Father Maciel in 1998, Benedict, who was then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, quashed a Vatican investigation. He re-opened the case in 2004, ultimately finding that Father Maciel had led a double life, raped seminarians, fathered several children and abused drugs while leading a charismatic organization known for producing ranks of priests.
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