Vatican Radio is reporting that Pope Francis has “granted a plenary indulgence, or religious pardon, to the ultra-conservative Legion of Christ movement, mired in a paedophile scandal, provided its members perform acts of penance, Vatican Radio said Thursday.
“The Legion of Christ has for years been beset by accusations of sexual abuse. The order’s founder, Mexican-born Marcial Maciel, stepped down in 2005 amid allegations of paedophilia and fathering several children. He died in 2008.
“In August the Chilean government decided to deport Irish priest John O’Reilly, the local Legion head who was convicted of sexually abusing a young girl. ‘After the huge scandal provoked by its hellish past,’ the Legion of Christ group ‘has begun a period of purification and renewal,’ Vatican Radio said.
“The jubilee indulgence is offered to all the group’s members for a period beginning next month, during the 75th anniversary year of the Legion’s founding and will conclude next June. READ FULL REPORT HERE
REMNANT COMMENT: Really? I wonder how well this goes over with those parents whose children were raped by these monsters. One does not attach blame to all the priests in the Legion for what happened, of course, but perhaps an order of priests that is this tainted from the very start should be supressed for the good of everyone involved.
This strikes us as yet another massive scandal in the making. May God have mercy on His Church in crisis.
