BishopAccountability.org
	Judge Opens Door to Vatican Priest Records UPI [Louisville KY] January 11, 2007 http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20070111-061211-1027r Louisville, Ky., Jan. 11 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Kentucky Thursday ruled that a lawsuit against the Vatican alleging cover-ups of predator priests could go forward. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported that the ruling by U.S. District Judge John Heyburn allows the alleged victims of sexual molestation by the priests to pursue information -- and the deep pockets of the Vatican -- in the lawsuit filed in 2004 on behalf of three men. Heyburn refused to dismiss the case, which alleges negligence on the part of the church leadership in alleged acts dating as far back as 1928. "This is the first and only case which has as its sole objective holding the Vatican financially accountable for all of the childhood sexual abuses committed in the United States," said Louisville attorney William McMurry, who filed the suit. McMurry said he thought the ruling would be appealed. However, if the decision is upheld he said it could open the door for all the attorneys involved to take the depositions of Vatican officials -- and acquire copies of church documents that could help determine why the church kept quiet about pedophile priests when reports of child abuse were pouring in.
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