According to El Sendero de Peje, Juan Vaca, a former Legionary who has supplied much of the details of Maciel’s abuse of boys, reports that the mother of the daughter whose existence the Legion admits was 15 years old when Maciel, then age 68, got her pregnant. Maciel always knew of the existence of his daughter.

The daughter is now 20 years old, and wants to sell her story. That has forced the Legion to make its vague public admissions – why they have been so vague is now clear. The current head of the Legion has known about this daughter for 5 years and confronted Maciel about the $10-15 thousand Maciel had taken on his trips.

If all this is true, and Vaca has been a reliable source, I see no alternative to the suppression of the Legion. The Piarists were suppressed in the 17th century for similar reasons; the Jesuits were suppressed for political reasons; various branches of the Franciscans were suppressed for nuttiness. The priests can go to dioceses and other orders; the schools and other apostolates can be run as separate foundations; but the Legion must cease to exist.

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