PORTLAND (OR)
The Oregonian
Friday, July 08, 2005
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris gave the green light Thursday to a clergy sexual-abuse plaintiffs' lawyer who is seeking testimony from former Portland Archbishop William J. Levada.
The lawyer, Erin K. Olson, and other plaintiffs' attorneys want to question Levada about the handling of child sex-abuse allegations by the Archdiocese of Portland. In particular, they want to discover whether archdiocese officials engaged in a pattern of behavior that enabled priests to continue abusing victims.
Olson said after the hearing she will begin taking steps to subpoena Levada, who next month is leaving his position as archbishop of San Francisco to become the leader of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faithful at the Vatican.
Thomas V. Dulcich, a lawyer for the Archdiocese of Portland, told Perris on Thursday his client doesn't object to Levada's deposition. However, he said, the questioning should be limited to the archbishop's actions in Portland from 1986 to 1995.