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	Father Maciel's Public Disgrace Hartford Courant June 5, 2006 http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-churchabuse.art jun05,0,3222102.story?coll=hc-headlines-editorials Justice was far too gentle in the case of the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado. Yet the punishment approved by Pope Benedict XVI against this longtime Vatican insider is an undeniable sign that, even at the highest levels, the Roman Catholic Church is no longer treating accusations of sexual abuse by priests with its traditional tolerance, secrecy and denial. Shortly before Easter, the National Catholic Reporter announced that the pope had approved sanctions against Father Maciel, founder of Legionaries of Christ, a conservative religious order with seminaries in several countries - including one in Cheshire. Father Maciel will remain a priest. But the frail 86-year-old, who now lives in his hometown of Cotija, Mexico, is prohibited from publicly celebrating Mass, giving lectures or other public presentations or giving interviews to the media. Even so, Father Maciel has not been silent. In a statement issued through the Legionaries' U.S. headquarters in Orange, he again declared his innocence, yet said he has accepted the pope's sanction "knowing that it is a new cross that God, the Father of Mercy, has allowed him to suffer." Father Maciel's public piety must be frustrating to his accusers, some of whom have tried for nearly three decades to get the church to respond. In 1997, Courant reporter Gerald Renner broke the story that Father Maciel had been accused by eight former students of sexually abusing them at seminaries in Spain and Italy at the ages of 10 to 16. Like hundreds of priests accused of sexual improprieties, however, Father Maciel continued to live among the protective folds of the church. As the founder of Legionaries - an order with 650 priests and 2,500 seminarians in 20 countries - Father Maciel enjoyed a stature more privileged than most. Pope John Paul II often praised Father Maciel; after The Courant broke the story, the pope gave Father Maciel the honor of being his personal representative to a meeting on the Americas that same year. Even under the new pope, justice did not appear assured. In December 2004, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, announced that the Vatican was investigating the sexual abuse accusations against Father Maciel. Cardinal Ratzinger was elected pope the following April; two months later came the news that the Vatican had ended the investigation without issuing any explanation or findings. Vatican watchers now say that a yearlong investigation by Monsignor Charles Scicluna turned up additional witnesses who said they too had been sexually abused by Father Maciel. Others of the more than 30 people who came forward said they knew nothing of sexual abuse, but described a culture within the Legionaries of intense secrecy and psychological abuse. They predict the Legionaries will become the focus of quiet and sustained efforts by the Vatican for reform. Father Maciel's fall may be small comfort to his accusers. It is, however, a public acknowledgment by the Vatican of his disgrace. Considering the glacial pace at which the Catholic Church accepts change, it's a welcome sign.
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