Marcial Maciel: The Wolf of God (Marcial Maciel, El Lobo De Dios)

50TH ANNIVERSARY LEGIONARIES OF CHRIST, 1991

With great joy, I wish to give the warmest welcome

to the massive pilgrimage of the Legionaries of Christ.

I thank our brethren, the Mexican bishops here today,

and Father Marcial Maciel.

Maciel's relationship with the Vatican was very strong.

There were gifts and signals that made Maciel untouchable.

In 1958, Pius XII died

and Marcial Maciel started his triumphant march,

becoming more and more important.

By then, Father Maciel boasted about his Vatican connections,

all the work they did, their global reach,

in Ireland,

Spain, Mexico, Italy, the US.

John Paul II is, certainly,

the pope who gives him the most power.

From his first trip to Mexico, we see a clear alliance

that benefits both of them.

We have to come out and say this:

John Paul II was the one who covered it up.

John Paul has a lot to account for.

He turned a blind eye to what was happening.

Sexual assault took place thanks to a whole system of power

which perpetrates abuse and hides it.

How could you not feel something

for what these innocent boys from Mexico endured?

MARCIAL MACIEL THE WOLF OF GOD

ROME, ITALY

When I was in Rome, I started writing that letter.

It took me days.

I recorded the history

of sexual abuse on Maciel's part.

Little by little, I wrote it over almost a week.

After seven or eight days,

I came to my room

and saw my letter had disappeared.

One hour later, Maciel summons me.

He looked at me with shark-like eyes,

like I've said before, he says...

I think it was the first time he called me "sir."

He used to be more informal.

"Sir, I don't think you're ready to be ordained."

It was punishment.

I was punished for my defiance. I didn't know it was that.

But Maciel saw it that way. Like a betrayal.

He looked me in the eyes and said, "Go back to Ontaneda right now.

You can act as prefect there.

We'll revisit your situation later."

Jesus Christ has a special place for the Legion

and He's preparing it for something big right now and in Christian history.

It's also up to the men that God invites into the Legionaries.

ONTANEDA, SPAIN SIX YEARS LATER

After six years, Maciel is convinced

that I will keep my mouth shut for the rest of my life.

Since he can't fire me, he calls me to Rome and says

that I can do my final year of school and eventually be ordained.

I said, "I don't want to be ordained.

I'm not ready to keep covering up

what you know I have covered up for so long."

He said, "Never mind that. Forget about it.

Once you've been ordained, I have great plans for you."

He brainwashed me, he convinced me again.

ROME, ITALY

In this picture, after being ordained,

I am offering my hands to Maciel

so he can kiss them.

Maciel, putting on a show, as the predator he is,

kisses my hands.

You can see my face. It's very eloquent.

You can see the contradiction, the disgust, the sadness in my face

after seeing that this man,

who's been my educator, my mentor, my advisor,

who has also been my attacker for so long

and now he's kissing my consecrated hands.

Two months later, he designates me supervisor for the US.

He offered me prestige, status

in exchange for my silence about everything Maciel had done.

Our name, Regnum Christi,

which is Latin for the Kingdom of Christ,

expresses the urgent call to bring today's world back to Christ.

When the Legionaries were born, Maciel followed the Jesuit model.

Over time, he followed a different model: Opus Dei.

Opus Dei made up a category

that didn't exist before in the Catholic Church.

It's what they call a "consecrated layperson".

In 1959, when he is cleared

by the Vatican investigation,

Maciel starts to realize he wants to have something like that.

By the late 60s,

the so-called Regnum Christi is officially born.

It is the "secular" branch of the Legionaries

and it allows Maciel to include women.

CONNECTICUT, USA

My name is Elena Sada.

I was born in Monterrey, Mexico.

My family had seven kids.

My mom was very religious.

My dad not so much,

but he was committed to the community's well-being.

My great-granddad founded the Cuactemoc Brewery

which later became Femsa.

I must have been maybe five or six.

I remember a legionary came over because, according to him,

he had a flat tire, he had car trouble.

He came inside and we talked into the night

about the Legionaries, what they were doing in Monterrey,

their aims, the change they wanted in society.

When the Father left, he agreed to come back

with another priest, who was the founder.

Very soon after that, Maciel visited us at home.

Mom invited some relatives and friends.

Father Maciel tried to connect with them.

He'd say, "Yes, I know so-and-so.

They have a relative in Mexico. They have worked with us in Mexico.

They help us," and so on.

I think they researched the people in Monterrey.

They knew our interests,

how to make the best impression.

However,

the first time my parents found out about the Legionaries,

my dad was a little more skeptical.

When someone asked my parents

how they had found out about the Legionaries

and my mom told the story, someone suggested...

When they asked the priest,

he admitted it was just an excuse to meet them.

But by then, they were already friends.

VATICAN

By the end of the 70s,

Pope Paul VI dies.

There was the brief papacy of John Paul I,

and then, for the first time in over 400 years,

the first non-Italian pope.

John Paul II is Polish. His name is Karol Wojtyla.

He personally experienced the persecution of the Church

at the hands of the Soviet dictatorship.

So he is set to become a central figure

in the fight against Communism.

Maciel was considered an ally

in the fight against Communism

in Latin America and within progressive Catholics,

especially after the Second Vatican Council.

This made him an essential ally in this fight.

Their relationship begins during a very unique time.

The first trip the Polish pope takes outside of Italy is to Mexico in 1979.

And it's a triumph.

It's a triumph also thanks to Maciel's help.

Hurray for the Pope!

Marcial Maciel arranges for the visit.

He takes care of everything.

He contacts everyone.

At some point, the Pope realizes

the kind of person Marcial Maciel is.

And he starts to fully trust him.

The close ties between Maciel and John Paul II

is the relationship that guaranteed the impunity he enjoyed

throughout this time.

This is especially evident after 1984,

when Marcial Maciel travels to Panama

to create three companies there.

During that period,

Panama was the number one tax haven in the world.

These are Marcial Maciel's golden years.

He had no limits, he had no scruples.

No one stopped him.

What was Marcial Maciel doing in 1978 in Tijuana, near the border?

The city had a lot of nightlife,

trafficking...

He didn't introduce himself as Father Marcial Maciel.

He called himself José Rivas.

He started to make up a new identity.

He pretended to be a CIA agent

or an executive in a US company.

To others, he was a school teacher.

He'd change names, clothes...

So he's an identity cross-dresser.

In Tijuana

Marcial Maciel meets a girl from Sinaloa

called Blanca Gutiérrez.

She has a little kid.

Marcial Maciel introduces himself as José Rivas.

He starts to make up a new identity.

He was 56 years old

and I was 19.

He told me he was a widower

and that he was looking for a girl to marry.

That he was getting old and he wanted a family.

I was so naive at 19, I wasn't mature enough.

So, yes, he adopted my son Omar

from my first marriage back in Sinaloa.

He adopts the kid as his own

and has two other biological kids.

In any case, what he did very skillfully

was similar to what he did with the Legionaries kids.

He talks her into moving, he makes her leave Tijuana.

He takes her many miles away, to Cuernavaca.

CONNECTICUT, USA

The Legionaries start to grow in the US.

It opens its first branches.

Juan José Vaca is their first leader in the US.