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	Statement of Jeffrey S. Lena Regarding Release of Documents in Doe V. Holy See Vatican Radio August 17, 2011 http://www.radiovaticana.va/pdf/documents_Doe_v_Holy_See.pdf [The documents released by the Vatican are found here.] In John V. Doe v. Holy See, a case against the Holy See and a province of the Friar Servants of Mary, the plaintiff states that he was sexually abused in 1965 by Servite priest Andrew Ronan in Portland, Oregon. For years, the plaintiff’s lawyers have accused the Holy See of transferring Ronan to Portland with prior knowledge that Ronan posed a danger to minors. The federal courts have dismissed most of the Doe lawsuit. Today, to assist the Oregon federal district court in resolving the sole remaining jurisdictional issue in the case, the Holy See is releasing all known documents relating to Ronan held by the Roman Curia. Like other documents previously produced by the Servite Order and the Portland Archdiocese, these newly-released documents show that the plaintiff’s lawyers’ long-standing accusations against the Holy See are false. The Holy See was not involved in Ronan’s transfers, including the transfer to Portland, and had no prior knowledge that Ronan posed a danger to minors. Instead, the documents confirm that the Servite Order first informed the Holy See of Ronan’s misconduct when Ronan petitioned for laicization in February 1966 – after the plaintiff’s abuse – and that the Holy See granted the petition for laicization just weeks later.
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