PORTLAND (OR)
The Oregonian
Friday, June 24, 2005
STEVE WOODWARD
Clergy sexual-abuse plaintiffs in Oregon are seeking out Portland's former archbishop, William J. Levada, to testify about one of the most heated issues in many abuse claims against the Archdiocese of Portland: Who knew what, and when did they know it?
The plaintiffs, in a motion filed this week, asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris for permission to take the deposition of Levada, who last month was appointed to what the Vatican describes as the third-most powerful position in the Roman Catholic Church. For at least 20 years, Levada has been one of the church's most knowledgeable authorities on sex-abuse policies.
"It's like taking the Secretary of Defense's deposition about defense," said John Manly, a California plaintiff's lawyer who also is seeking Levada's deposition. "He is perhaps the most important person in the world on this issue."