Sexual abuse cases of Marcial Maciel significant person Marcial Maciel
Marcial Maciel was the founding leader of the Legion of Christ, then based in Mexico, and its general director from 1941 to January 2005.
Since the 1970s the prominent Mexican Roman Catholic priest had sexually abused at least 60 minors." and fathered six children by three women. Described as a charismatic leader and the "greatest fundraiser of the modern Roman Catholic church", he was successful in recruiting seminarians at a time of declining priestly vocations. Maciel was the "highest ranking priest ever disciplined because of sexual abuse allegations."Formal charges against Maciel were filed by nine men with the Vatican in 1998. The scandal related to Maciel was linked with the wider series of international Catholic sex abuse cases being reported in the Catholic Church. Church authorities were criticized for the slow pace of investigations, with conjecture that it was because Maciel was close to Pope John Paul II and had well-placed connections among senior clergy. Putting forward his age, John Paul II's Vatican chose not to prosecute Maciel, but in 2006 Pope Benedict XVI forced him to retire from active ministry. Maciel died in 2008.
In March 2010, the Legion of Christ in a communique acknowledged that Maciel had committed "reprehensible actions", including sexual abuse. The communique stated that "given the gravity of his faults, we cannot take his person as a model of Christian or priestly life." The Legion had long denied the allegations against the priest and, since Maciel's forced retirement in 2006 had not made any official statement one way or the other. On May 1, 2010, the Vatican denounced Maciel's actions and said that the Legion needed reform; a Papal Delegate was designated to oversee the organization and its governance.
In 2019, the Legion of Christ released a report on abuse committed by Maciel and other priests.  Notably, the Legion pointed to Cardinal Sodano, an influential Vatican prelate, as being responsible for hiding the accusations against Maciel from others in the cura.  Sodano retired the same day that the Legion made its report.