June 21, 2010

LEGION OF CHIRST SUED OVER ALLEGED ABUSE

A man who claims to be the son of Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legion of Christ, filed a lawsuit against the powerful Roman Catholic order on Monday, alleging the group's support of the priest allowed Father Maciel to sexually abuse him for years.

A lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of New Haven, Conn., on behalf of José Raúl González Lara says Father Maciel led a double life, fathering Mr. Lara in 1980 and sexually abusing him from 1987 to 1998, according to a copy of the complaint reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The complaint accuses the Legion of battery and negligence for allowing Father Maciel to have contact with minors, including Mr. Lara, even though, the suit alleges, the group was aware that Father Maciel had faced allegations of sexual abuse decades earlier. Father Maciel, who died in 2008 at the age of 87, repeatedly denied the earlier sexual-abuse allegations. The Legion hasn't addressed the question of Mr. Lara's paternity.

Jim Fair, a U.S.-based spokesman for the Legion, declined to comment on the lawsuit or on Mr. Lara's alleged links to Father Maciel. "Our attorneys won't be able to talk about the suit at this point," Mr. Fair said in an email.

Joel Faxon, Mr. Lara's lawyer, said it was "premature" to say how much money his client was seeking in damages, adding that "historically, these types of cases have been resolved in excess of $1 million." Mr. Faxon said he filed the suit in New Haven, because Connecticut serves as an "operational center" for the Legion, which also has operations across Latin America and Europe.

The lawsuit comes at a delicate time for the Legion, which recently repudiated Father Maciel and apologized to his alleged victims after denying the allegations for more than a decade. Pope Benedict XVI, under pressure to crack down on cases of sexual abuse that have roiled his papacy, is also planning to name a special Vatican delegate soon to conduct a sweeping overhaul of the Legion.

In early May, the Vatican issued a statement on the findings of a yearlong investigation into the Legion, concluding that some of the Legion's members were aware of the founder's sexual abuses. Father Maciel led a "life devoid of scruples and authentic religious meaning" that he concealed through a "system of relations," the Vatican said.

The order, founded in Mexico by Father Maciel in the 1940s, has long been one of the most powerful groups in Roman Catholicism, using its ties to Mexico's business elite to raise millions for the Catholic Church and recruit hundreds of new priests. Father Maciel also cultivated strong ties to the Vatican, accompanying the late Pope John Paul II on trips to Mexico.

The suit filed Monday alleges Father Maciel went by the alias of Raul Rivas, a businessman, when he introduced himself to Mr. Lara's mother in Mexico. "The Legionaries were aware that Maciel was using the power and resources gained from the Legionaries to meet with children around the world, including Raul," the complaint states.

Mr. Lara says he discovered the priest's true identity in 1997 after a group of men went public with allegations that Father Maciel sexually abused the men decades earlier while they were students at a Legion seminary in Mexico. Father Maciel repeatedly denied the allegations, and for decades, the Legion vigorously defended him.

In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI approved a Vatican directive ordering Father Maciel to withdraw from public ministry and live a "life of prayer and penitence." In February 2009, the Legion acknowledged that Father Maciel fathered a girl, who now lives in Spain, prompting the Vatican to launch its investigation of the order.

—Margherita Stancati contributed to this article.