Legionaries of Christ priest led secret double life, admits being a father of two children
Priest said he had ‘lost his grounding’ and fell in love with a woman during a period of turmoil that hit the order when lurid claims about its founder were revealed
The Legionaries of Christ, a Catholic religious order which fell into disgrace after the discovery that its founder was a sexual abuser with a secret family, has been hit by fresh scandal with revelations that the head of its Rome seminary fathered two children.
The order said in a statement that Father Oscar Turrion would leave the priesthood. It also released a letter by Turrion in which he asks “forgiveness for the scandal ... forgiveness for my bad example and the negative witness I have given”.
The Legionaries is a conservative order of Roman Catholic priests. Turrion was rector of the Pontifical International College Maria Mater Ecclesiae, a seminary for men in the order studying for the priesthood in pontifical universities in Rome.
The Legionaries said Turrion, a 49-year-old Spaniard, told his superiors in March that he had just had a daughter. A new rector was appointed and Turrion was ordered not to practice his ministry publicly.
On Thursday Turrion acknowledged that he had previously had a son with the same woman several years ago, the order said.
This meant he had a secret family while he was head of the seminary.
