Mr. Barba said Ms. Wegan and Father Roqueñi outlined the case and hand-delivered a two-page complaint to Father Girotti about the sexual abuses the eight men had suffered, many of them in the 1950s. As they left the building, Mr. Barba said, the group met Cardinal Ratzinger and kissed his ring. They did not discuss the case. Later, Ms. Wegan said the cardinal had wanted to meet them, according to Mr. Barba.

By February 1999, the Congregation had officially accepted the case, according to a letter from Ms. Wegan. Father Maciel could not be tried for sexual abuse, because — at the time — the crimes were beyond the statute of limitations. But the Congregation, which policed doctrinal matters, accepted the case on the grounds that he had granted absolution to an accomplice in crime — in this case, meaning his sexual abuse victims — which had no statute of limitations. If found guilty, he could have been excommunicated.

(Two years later, Cardinal Ratzinger decreed that that crime would also have a statute of limitations, removing the legal basis for an accomplice absolution charge, the complainants pointed out. It remains unknown why Cardinal Ratzinger did so or whether his decision had to do with Father Maciel’s case.)

At around the same time as the case was accepted, Father Athié, who had become interested in the matter and was helping Father Maciel’s victims, wrote a letter outlining another abuse charge and gave it to Bishop Carlos Talavera of Mexico, who told him that he had delivered it to Cardinal Ratzinger. In it, Father Athié described the detailed deathbed confession in 1995 of Father Juan Manuel Fernández Amenábar, who had told Father Athié about years of abuse by Father Maciel.

In an interview, Father Athié said Bishop Talavera — who has since died — told him that the cardinal had read the letter and decided not to proceed with the case. “Ratzinger said it could not be opened because he was a person very beloved by the pope,” referring to Father Maciel, “and had done a lot of good for the church. He said as well, ‘I am very sorry, but it isn’t prudent,’ ” Father Athié said.

Saúl Barrales, a schoolteacher who once worked as Father Maciel’s secretary and is a cousin of Bishop Talavera, said he had heard the same account of the conversation from the bishop.

Just before Christmas 1999, Ms. Wegan, the lawyer, wrote to Mr. Barba and Mr. Jurado to say she had “sad news.” She said that she had spoken twice to Father Girotti and that he had told her they had done some research into the matter, but had decided to close the inquiry “for now.”