Vatican's Pius XII archives shed light on the Legion of Christ scandal

The recently opened archives of Pope Pius XII are providing details about the scandal over the founder of the Legionaries of Christ. Entire books have already been written about the copious documentation that arrived in the Holy See starting in the 1950s proving its officials had evidence of the Rev. Marcial Maciel’s dubious morals, drug use, financial recklessness and sexual abuse of his young seminarians. The newly opened archives of the Pius papacy, which spanned 1939-1958, are adding to that. They confirm that Pius’ Vatican was cracking down on Maciel and was poised to take even tougher measures against him — including suspending him from priestly ministry — but that Pius’ 1958 death enabled Maciel’s supporters to take advantage of the leadership vacuum to salvage his name.