Mexican woman claims to have borne 2 children by Father Maciel
March 04, 2010
A Mexican woman has reported that she had an affair with the late Father Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, in the 1970s, and bore two of his children. Blanca Lara Gutierrez claimed in a radio interview that she was not aware that Maciel was a priest, and only learned his true identity years later. The report-- which an AP story noted "could not be independently verified"-- increases the pressure on the Legionaries of Christ. The order, which is already the subject of a Vatican investigation, has been in turmoil since the revelations last year that Father Maciel apparently lived a double life, drawing thousands of dollars from the accounts of his religious order and fathering other children in Spain. Maciel died in 2008, at the age of 87, after being directed by the Vatican in 2006 to withdraw from public life and spend his final years in "penitence and prayer." An American spokesman for the Legionaries of Christ said that he was "shocked and disappointed" by the latest report, but had no further information about it.
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