Vatican Claims Bishops Arent Employees, Nick Squires, Telegraph, May 17, 2010

Vatican Claims Bishops Aren't "Employees"

By Nick Squires
Telegraph
May 17, 2010

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/7733921/Vatican-claims-bishops-arent-employees.html

The Church is anxious to block the demands of victims' lawyers that Pope Benedict XVI himself should be called to appear in court

The Vatican has insisted it is not responsible for sex abuse cases in the United States because bishops are not technically employees.

It has made the claim in response to court cases relating to incidents in which Catholic bishops knew about paedophile priests but failed to inform the authorities.

Plaintiffs who filed lawsuits in Louisville, Kentucky, say it means the Church should be held to account.

But Vatican lawyers have said they will argue that bishops are not paid by Rome and therefore not technically its responsibility.

Jeffrey Lena, the Vatican's US lawyer, said bishops were not controlled on a day-to-day basis by the Holy See, nor did they act on Rome's behalf.

He said their relationship with the Vatican was "religious" rather than "civil" so they were not liable under normal employment laws.

The result of the court case will have ramifications for other similar cases which are before the American courts.

The Church is also anxious to block the demands of victims' lawyers that Pope Benedict XVI himself should be called to appear in court.

The Vatican has dismissed the attempts as "completely without merit" because as the head of a sovereign state the pontiff enjoys immunity from prosecution.

An alleged victim of a paedophile priest in Wisconsin last month filed a lawsuit against the Pope, his right-hand man, Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone and Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the College of Cardinals.

It came as a new survey has showed that Italians' faith in the papacy and the Church has dipped to a historic low, with less than 50 per cent saying they had trust in Benedict XVI and the Church.

The survey, conducted by Demos, found that while 77 per cent had faith in the previous Pope, John Paul II, only 47 per cent regard his successor as credible.

The poll also found that 62 per cent consider the Church's response to the sex abuse crisis inadequate and believe the Vatican has tried to hush up cases in which priests sexually abused children in their care.