American Catholic priest admits fathering child
American priest Thomas Williams
The Legion of Christ religious order of Catholicism is faced with its second sexual scandal in weeks after a prominent American priest admits to having fathered a child against his religious vows.
Father Thomas Williams, a famous American moral theologian and lecturer, made the acknowledgement on Tuesday, saying he was “deeply sorry for this grave transgression” against the vows of celibacy and that he would take a year off "to reflect on my commitments as a priest."
It comes after the Associated Press presented the Legion with the accusation against Williams, made by a Spanish group of Legion victims. The allegations were sent to the Legion and Vatican several weeks ago, also naming other priests from the Legion over sexual abuse of minors.
Williams said in a statement that “a number of years ago” he had a relationship with a woman and fathered her child, failing to identify the mother and the child’s gender and did not stress whether the controversial relationship is over.
Meanwhile, the Legion admitted on Wednesday that it was aware of Williams’ relationship, but did not remove him from teaching ethics and morality.
The Catholic order was founded in 1941 by Mexican priest Marcial Maciel, who turned the Legion into a powerful international order with 70,000 followers and many wealthy supporters.
Maciel, however, was accused of drug and sexual abuses. In 2006 the Vatican sentenced Maciel to a lifetime of penance and prayer for his crimes.
In 2009, one year after his death, the Legion admitted he had fathered three children with two different women and had abused his seminarians.
Last week, the Vatican launched an investigation into sexual allegations committed by the Legion’s priests, which is considered as the Vatican’s first known serious action against the order.
