US Court Victims of Sex Abuse Priests Can Sue Vatican, AFP, March 3, 2009

US Court: Victims of Sex Abuse Priests Can Sue Vatican

AFP
March 3, 2009

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gssh1q-TPGwIJDn6soW4Yqa4KqfA

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Lawyers for a man who alleged he was sexually abused 40 years ago as a teenager by a Roman Catholic priest lauded Wednesday a US appeals court decision that paves the way for abuse victims to sue the Vatican.

"Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Portland, Oregon, issued a decision that opens the door to survivors (of the sex abuse scandal in the US Catholic church) to sue the Vatican for its role in the cover-up of priests and molestations by them," Jeff Anderson, a lawyer for the plaintiff, told AFP.

Policemen walk at St. Peter's Square during the sunrise in the Vatican City

The case was originally brought seven years ago on behalf of a plaintiff named only as John Doe, who alleged that he was sexually molested on several occasions when he was 15 or 16 by Roman Catholic priest Father Andrew Ronan.

Before he was transferred to Portland, Ronan had been moved out of two previous parishes -- in Ireland and the United States -- after he admitted to sexually molesting young boys.

When the case finally came to court last year, the Holy See claimed immunity under a US law that grants immunity before US courts to foreign states, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).

But the judges held that Doe's claim met the criteria for an exception to the FSIA, saying it has "control over the priest in terms of his removal and his transfers, enough control that it can be held legally responsible as the master of the priest," said Anderson.

The ruling was "a major breakthrough in the sense that the problem emanates from the top," he said, adding that he expects the Vatican to ask for a review of the ruling or go to the US Supreme Court.

Since the 1990s thousands of cases of abuse by Catholic clergy against mostly boys and dating back to the 1950s have surfaced, forcing the resignation of several top bishops and massive damage payouts to victims.

The US clergy sex scandal mushroomed into a nationwide embarrassment for the Church after the then archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law, resigned in 2002 amid intense pressure due to his handling of abusive priests.

In 2007, the Catholic Church in the United States paid out 615 million dollars (400 million euros) to settle sex abuse cases, according to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

During a six-day visit to the United States last year, Pope Benedict XVI mentioned the sex scandal in nearly every homily and speech he gave and chastised the Catholic Church in the United States for the way it has handled the issue.