Marcial Maciel - Biography

Biography

Maciel was born in Cotija, Michoacán, Mexico and became a priest after a troubled youth.

Maciel was expelled from two seminaries for reasons that have never been explained. He became a priest only when one of his uncles ordained him after private studies.

Maciel founded the Legion of Christ in 1941, with the support of Francisco González Arias, Bishop of Cuernavaca, and its lay arm Regnum Christi in 1959. He was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood in Mexico City on November 26, 1944.

Maciel is the grand-nephew of a Mexican saint canonized in 2007, Rafael Guízar Valencia, who also was an integral part of the founding of the Legion of Christ. There has been speculation that conduct by Maciel contributed to the death of this great uncle. According to an investigative report:

The day before Bishop Guizar died, he had been heard shouting angrily at Marcial Maciel. He was giving his eighteen-year-old nephew a dressing down after two women had come to the bishop's house to complain about Maciel, who was their neighbor. Father Orozco, who was among the original group of boys to found the Legion of Christ in 1941, said he heard the women had complained about the "noise" Maciel was making with children he had brought into his home to teach religion. He said that the seminary officials blamed Maciel for his uncle's heart attack.

Through the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi, Maciel started many schools, a network of Universities and a large number of charitable institutes. In January 2006 he stepped down as head of the Legion of Christ and tendered its leadership to long-time follower Fr. Álvaro Corcuera Martínez del Río.

Marcial Maciel died in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, on January 30, 2008, at age 87. He had a private funeral and was buried in his birthplace, Cotija, Michoacán, in early February 2008.