Legionaries of Christ founder almost removed from priesthood in 1950s, Vatican documents show

[ad_1] Source Father Marcial Maciel. / Credit: DominikHoffmann, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons National Catholic Register, Jul 25, 2024 / 12:30 pm (CNA). Pope Pius XII’s Vatican was on the verge of removing from the priesthood the founder of the Legionaries of Christ over sexual abuse allegations in 1956, 50 years before he was removed from active ministry, documents from the time show.Father Marcial Maciel (1920–2008), who founded the religious congregation as a young seminarian in Mexico in 1941,…