ABUSE

Vatican Investigates Seven Priests

Group has faced prior sexual abuse allegations.

Seven priests in the Legion of Christ, an international Catholic order, are under investigation by the Vatican for sexual-abuse accusations, the Legion said Friday. Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the founder of the Legion of Christ, was embroiled in a sex scandal several years ago. The Legion said Friday that it had looked into allegations against the priests and found that they had “a semblance of truth.” The cases were referred to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the arm of the Vatican that handles sexual abuse investigations. Officials for the order said the cases “for the most part date back decades.”