Overview

• The communiqué follows the release of HBO Max’s four-part Marcial Maciel: El Lobo de Dios, which revisits survivor accounts and archival material on abuse by the order’s founder and institutional shielding.
• The Legionaries said producers contacted them in 2022 and that they granted interviews but had no co-production role, no editorial control, and no knowledge of the final content.
• The statement acknowledges an initial failure to believe victims, a long period of institutional silence, and errors in informing members, and it offers solidarity to those harmed.
• The congregation objects to the inclusion of images of people, including individuals who were minors at the time as well as ex-consecrated members and priests, saying they were used without authorization and caused discomfort.
• The order highlights more than 15 years of internal reforms; context from its 2019 report cites 175 abuse cases across the congregation with about 60 attributed to Maciel, as separate scrutiny continues after a Legionary priest’s June detention on accusations of raping minors.