IRELAND
Irish Examiner
20/06/05
By Caroline O’Doherty
VICTIMS of clerical child sex abuse here have been urged to name the Pope as a responsible party in any legal proceedings they take against the Catholic Church.
The call comes from an Irish-American lawyer who is endeavouring to create a legal precedent by compelling Pope Benedict XVI to give evidence in a lawsuit he is taking on behalf of three young men who claim abuse by a former seminary student.
Daniel Shea will hear later this week whether there has been a decision by the US State Department on a request by Pope Benedict to be granted diplomatic immunity in the case.
Mr Shea is basing his action against Pope Benedict on an interpretation of a recently uncovered letter the Pontiff wrote to the world’s bishops in 2001 setting out how they should deal with a variety of clerical misdemeanours.
He also says the letter lays down a statute of limitations which prevents priests referring such complaints to the civil authorities for ten years after the alleged victim reaches the age of 18. By that stage, the statute of limitations that applies in civil law in most US states would have expired and a plaintiff would be legally prohibited from taking a case.