PORTLAND (OR)
Los Angeles Times
From Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. — Archbishop William Levada agreed Wednesday to waive diplomatic immunity and answer questions about sexual abuse by Roman 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 officially steps 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.
During a farewell Mass on Sunday in San Francisco, Levada was served with a subpoena to be deposed on Friday. But with his agreement to accept the jurisdiction of U.S. courts — amounting to a waiver of diplomatic immunity — Levada will now be deposed in January. He had previously refused to agree to jurisdiction and other conditions.
Lawyers for abuse victims want to question Levada as part of the bankruptcy case of the Archdiocese of Portland. Last year, Portland became the first Roman Catholic diocese in the nation to file for bankruptcy protection, citing sex abuse lawsuits seeking more than $155 million in damages.
Levada led the Portland Archdiocese from 1986 to 1995, when he became the archbishop of San Francisco.
"He now has personally signed acceptance of receipt of the subpoena and he has agreed that U.S. courts will have jurisdiction and that the subpoena will be legally enforceable," said Eric Olson, a lawyer representing abuse victims.