Book by Father Maciel was plagiarized, Legionaries disclose

December 18, 2009

In a memo to members of their movement, the leaders of the Legionaries of Christ have revealed that a book attributed to their founder, the late Father Marcial Maciel, was mostly copied from an earlier work by a Spanish political leader. El Salterio de Mis Dias (The Psalter of My Days), which had been promoted as the spiritual reflections of Father Maciel during the 1950s, when he was being investigated by the Vatican, is a lightly rewritten version of El Salterio de Mis Horas (The Psalter of My Hours), by Luis Lucia.

The report is the latest in a series of damaging revelations about the behavior of Father Maciel, who for years was revered by members of the Legion of Christ and the affiliated lay movement, Regnum Christi. Earlier this year, leaders of the Legion acknowledged for the first time that they could not deny the misconduct of Father Maciel, which apparently included liaisons with women and the unauthorized spending of large sums of money donated to the religious order.

 

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Further information:

• Legion of Christ discloses Fr. Maciel's plagiarism to its members (CNA)
• Legionaries 'cannot deny' reports of Father Maciel's misconduct (CWN, 2/4)