LOUISVILLE (KY)
The Courier-Journal
By Peter Smith
psmith@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
The Vatican reportedly has asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to intervene in a Louisville lawsuit that seeks damages for sexual abuse committed by Roman Catholic priests across the United States over more than seven decades.
The request reportedly occurred when Rice met last month with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's secretary of state, as part of her tour of Europe.
The American-basedAbuse Tracker , a weekly newspaper, reported from unnamed sources that Sodano asked Rice to support the church's argument that the lawsuit should be dismissed.
The Vatican contends that, as a sovereign nation, it is protected under U.S. law from lawsuits such as the Louisville case attorney William McMurry filed last year.
McMurry represents three men who say they were molested by Kentucky priests in incidents dating to 1928.
Posted by kshaw at March 4, 2005 05:54 AM