PORTLAND (OR)
Detroit Free Press
August 11, 2005
BY WILLIAM McCALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND, Ore. -- PORTLAND, Ore. -- Archbishop William Levada agreed Wednesday to waive diplomatic immunity and answer questions about sexual abuse by Catholic priests after he takes over as the church's guardian on doctrine -- the Vatican post formerly held by Pope Benedict XVI.
Levada, 69, who will officially step down as archbishop of San Francisco next week, is heading to Rome to take over as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger held the post for 24 years before he became pope in April; he appointed Levada to his old job a month later.
Attorneys for abuse victims want to question Levada as part of the bankruptcy case involving the Archdiocese of Portland. Last year, Portland became the first Catholic diocese in the nation to declare bankruptcy, citing sexual-abuse lawsuits seeking more than $155 million in damages. Levada led the archdiocese from 1986 to 1995, when he became the archbishop of San Francisco.