HOUSTON (TX)
Vermont Guardian
HOUSTON — The Vatican has asked the U.S. State Department to declare Pope Benedict XVI immune from a sexual abuse lawsuit filed in Houston, according to court documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle. On May 20, a church official contacted the State Department, requesting that it notify a Houston federal court of the pope's immunity as the head of a foreign state.
The lawsuit, filed by three anonymous plaintiffs, accuses the pope, then acting as a cardinal, of conspiring to cover up the alleged abuse. The suit names a former seminary student as the alleged abuser.
In a confidential letter sent to every Catholic bishop in May 2001 (Vermont Guardian, April 29), then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger issued an order ensuring the church's investigations into child sex abuse claims be carried out in secret. Lawyers for abuse victims claim it was designed to prevent allegations from becoming public knowledge or being investigated by the police.
Posted by kshaw at May 31, 2005 08:36 PM