PORTLAND (OR)
KGW
10:32 AM PDT on Friday, June 24, 2005
Associated Press
A top Vatican official is being sought by attorneys for alleged sex abuse victims who want to know how much information the Roman Catholic Church had about priests accused of molesting children.
Portland Archbishop William Levada in 1995 reacts to being named the new Archbishop of San Francisco.
San Francisco Archbishop William Levada, the recently appointed guardian of Roman Catholic doctrine, is considered a church authority on sexual-abuse policy. He was archbishop of Portland from 1986 to 1995.
In a motion filed in federal court this week, an attorney for alleged victims asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris for permission to take a deposition from Levada.
"It's like taking the Secretary of Defense's deposition about defense," said John Manly, a California lawyer who also is seeking Levada's deposition. "He is perhaps the most important person in the world on this issue."