Catholic Misconduct

Gatopardo builds a long piece in the latest issue about the Legionnaires of Christ and Marciel Maciel around the personal account of an ex-member of the order, Chilean priest Patricio Cerda. I'll spare you the details of sexual abuse, which Cerda witnessed, but this portion about the group's financial practices was interesting:

Beyond that, [Cerda] spoke [to Ratzinger] about the methods of coercion and the precariousness in which the legionnaires who, like him, left the order. He also referred to some practices of Maciel's and the high command of the Legion, such as the costly gifts to win favor with influential members of the Church. As an example, the Chilean mentioned the Mercedes Benz gave to a Brazilian cardinal that lived in Rome, Lucas Moreira Neves, who died in 2002. "That car was parked in the legionnaires' house in Rome and Macial also used it, because he had diplomatic recognition in the Vatican...I saw that in first person and I make myself responsible for what I say", Cerda offers.

The gift-giving policy is corroborated by another ex-legionnaire that was a direct witness to it. "The Legion did things that way: give a car to a cardinal, without compromising him, but doing it moments such as, for example, when a negative report about the legion was on its way. And this cardinal then went to say, well, they [the Legionnaires] gave me a car, and every time I need to go to the airport they stop by with a chauffeur".

In addition, Cerda outlined for Ratzinger the comforts that Maciel reserved for himself. According to the Chilean, the Mexican used to travel on the Concorde, the luxurious supersonic passenger jet. One on occasion he had ordered the purchase of a round-trip ticket, from Paris to the United States, to have his teeth cleaned and to return the same day to the French capital.

An ex-legionnaire that worked closely with Maciel in Rome, affirmed that the founder traveled constantly, with specifying to anyone his destinations and why the order provided dollars in cash and a gold card for his journeys. "Even for those closest to him it was very difficult to know where he was going; nobody ever asked him those types of questions", he mentions.

The piece doesn't go into as much detail as perhaps it could have about Maciel himself, but it's revealing as to how the order maintained its prestige for so long. According to the author, although Joseph Ratzinger was directly involved in the investigation and the eventual forced retirement of Maciel, the latter was a personal favorite of John Paul II, and any real action against the Legionnaires had to await his death.