Ignoring the Golden Rule

Developments involving an influential Mexican cleric and a priest originally from Cuba may put increased pressure against Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican.

Last week officials at the Legion of Christ (LOC) admitted that their late leader fathered three children with two women and sexually abused minors. “We express our sorrow and grief to each and every person damaged by our founder's actions," said a letter written by sixteen LOC leaders regarding the actions of Rev. Marcial Maciel.

The accusations against Maciel were nothing new as we reported last August yet the group was forced to admit that they covered up Maciel’s abuse since 2006. This was preceded by a two-year Vatican investigation against Maciel who was allowed to retire and he would eventually pass away in 2008.

Maciel’s sordid life has damaged the LOC’s once-powerful international reputation but has had little negative effect on the group in Mexico. “The Legion has long-standing ties with the ruling class and an expansive network of elite schools,” which has helped them in Mexico according to the Los Angeles Times.

In the meantime, a lawyer in a Florida clergy sex abuse case claimed that the Vatican protected Rev. Ernesto Garcia-Rubio and his “troubled past” before being transferred to South Florida in 1968:

After arriving in Miami in 1968, Garcia-Rubio served as a church advocate for recent immigrants from Latin America, (attorney Jessica) Arbour said, giving him access to child refugees from Cuba, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

The priest would take the children in, and then require them to have sexual contact with him, she said. If the child refused, Arbour said, Garcia-Rubio would threaten to deport them. Arbour says her client was 15 when he came to the U.S. by himself from Nicaragua.

With millions of Catholics like myself celebrating Holy Week these scandals are difficult to stomach. It’s nothing short of tragic that the likes of Rev. Maciel made a mockery of their spiritual beliefs by exploiting vulnerable victims.

Image- New York Times (Image of Rev. Marcial Maciel)
Online Sources- AP, Wall Street Journal, The Latin Americanist, CNN, Los Angeles Times, MSNBC