Pope orders probe of scandal-plagued religious order

Father Alvaro Corcuera, the current head of the order, said in a letter to its members he hoped the investigation would "help (us) to face our present vicissitudes related to the grave facts in our father founder's life."

The investigators will visit Legionaries' seminaries and other institutions, such as schools, retreat houses and universities around the world.

Founded by Maciel, a Mexican, in 1941, the conservative order now has about 800 priests and 2,500 seminarians in more than 20 countries. It also runs a pontifical university in Rome. Like in many religious institutions, the founder became a cult figure among members, even while he was alive.

The revelations about Maciel have dealt a moral blow to the priestly order and its lay branch, Regnum Christi, which says it has tens of thousands of members.

George Weigel, a Washington-based Catholic theologian, said the investigation will have to discover who within the order was complicit in Maciel's web of deceit. Eventually the pope will have to decide if the Legionaries should be reformed or dissolved, he said.