Overview

• The four-part series Marcial Maciel: El lobo de Dios premiered on HBO Max on August 14, 2025, presenting previously unseen material and on-camera accounts.
• Recent coverage spotlights three central takeaways: internal reports of abuse dating to the 1950s, shielding through money and pontifical secrecy, and a delayed Vatican response culminating in a 2006 order to retire.
• An internal Legionaries of Christ report released in 2019 documented at least 60 minors abused by Maciel and 175 victims abused by 33 priests between 1941 and 2019.
• Maciel died in 2008 without a judicial process after the Vatican required a life of penitence in 2006, a resolution portrayed as protecting the institution rather than victims.
• The congregation cites a “reparation and reconciliation” effort with 45 victims, though reporting describes its pace and scope as limited.