Pope Names New Head for Disgraced Order

(July 9) -- Pope Benedict XVI has appointed an outsider to revamp one of the Catholic Church's richest, most conservative and most disgraced orders, the Vatican announced today.

Velasio De Paolis, the archbishop of Thelepte in Tunisia and president of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See, will assume command of the Legionaries of Christ as part of an overhaul of the order that began in May.

De Paolis, 74, is a canon lawyer who will be an interim leader of the Legion, an enormous and influential order with priests in 22 countries. Along with two vice-delegates, De Paolis is expected to review the very foundation of the controversial order.

The Legion of Christ accrued assets estimated at up to $30 billion thanks to its late, disgraced founder Marcial Maciel, a talented fundraiser who was extremely adept at making alliances with the well-connected -- including high-ranking clergy at the Vatican.

Some say that wealth is exaggerated, but whatever the Legion's true worth, De Paolis is not unlike a new executive brought in to oversee the takeover of a powerful but deeply flawed company, sources familiar with the Legion say.

"This guy has quite a big challenge facing him," said Jason Berry, one of two reporters who broke the Maciel story in 1997 and who directed a 2008 documentary about the priest called "Vows of Silence."

"It's a pretty big gamble for the Vatican to take over this operation, toxic assets and all," Berry told AOL News today. "There's no precedence for the Vatican to take over an order with so much money."

Maciel, a Mexican national, was an ally of Pope John Paul II, a prodigious recruiter of new priests and a friend to the powerful. But behind that facade, he led a hidden life.

He was accused of sexually abusing at least eight seminarians and also of fathering children with at least two women.

After years spent defending Maciel from his accusers, the Legion this year acknowledged that Maciel had fathered a daughter and in March issued a formal apology for Maciel's "reprehensible actions."

The Holy See told Maciel in 2006 to leave the active ministry and live a life of prayer and penitence, but it was not until after his death at age 87 in January 2008 that the scope of his abuse came to light.

De Paolis' appointment came after an apostolic visitation of the far-flung Legionaries of Christ last year, which prompted the Vatican to decide in May to take over the order in an effort to root out corruption and redefine its religious direction.

Five bishops spoke to more than 1,000 Legionaries around the world during the visitation.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said on Vatican Radio on Friday that De Paolis would be meeting with the Legion's directors shortly to outline his mandate and any changes to the order's roster of leaders.

De Paolis will be working with a commission that will help the Legion on the "challenging path of purification and renewal that awaits the order," Federico said.

The Legionaries of Christ said in a statement posted on its website that it welcomed De Paolis' appointment "with gratitude and [looks] forward to receiving his guidance."