and (since 1994) as a permanent consultant to the Congregation for the Clergy. The golden anniversary of his priestly ordination was celebrated on 26 November 1994, with 57 Legionary priests ordained the day prior. Maciel served as Chancellor of the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, which is based in Rome. Maciel collaborated extensively with Pope John Paul II, either in person or through members of his organization, the Legion of Christ. The pope admired Maciel for strictly adhering to the magisterium and the vocations to the Legion of Christ. Maciel received many donations from Mexico's richest persons. In addition, Maciel and the Legion gave the Vatican considerable funding over many years. While many believe that Pope John Paul II was blinded by trust of Maciel, some journalists have speculated that this financial influence was the reason the Church postponed acting on allegations of sexual abuse by Maciel. Fundraising Jason Berry reports that early in his career, only two years into being a priest, Maciel visited the Vatican in 1946 to donate $10,000 from "several of Mexico's wealthiest families and its president, Miguel Aleman Valdes", appealing for support for scholarships for seminarians to study in Spain. Maciel sought and received large donations from the wives of wealthy men such as Flora Barragán, "the widow of an industrialist" from Monterrey. Barragán reportedly donated $50 million to Maciel's Legion of Christ. According to José Barba, a "Mexico City college professor and former Legion seminarian", “Maciel was 27 when he purchased the [first seminary] estate. In 1950 he began construction on the Instituto Cumbres, the first prep school, in Mexico City, the land for which Flora provided. That summer he also inaugurated Collegio Massimo in Rome. He was 30. In 1953 he tried to start construction of a college in Salamanca," but that was delayed a year. The Garza-Sada families were another Monterrey group he received donations from. After the family patriarch, Dionisio Garza Garza, died, Maciel courted and received generous donations from his widow. According to her daughter, Roberta Garza, her mother, “never learned about his kids. He targeted women in Mexico of a certain class who were not allowed to work. ... For cultured women who were bored, Maciel offered a sense of purpose.” A "continuing flow of money" to Maciel's projects also came from two other children of Dionisio Garza Garza—Paulina and Luis. Another benefactor was Josefita Pérez Jiménez, the daughter of