Sky News
November 8, 2011
http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16105988
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| The ruling centres around the employment relationship between priest and bishop. (File photo of the Vatican) |
[with video]
The High Court has ruled that the Catholic Church can be held liable for the wrongdoings of its priests - a move that could have implications for victims of alleged sex abuse.
The decision by a judge in London arose in a damages action over alleged sex abuse by a priest in Hampshire.
Mr Justice MacDuff gave a decision in favour of a 47-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
She claims she was sexually assaulted as a child by the late Father Wilfred Baldwin, a priest of the Portsmouth Diocese, at a children's home in Hampshire run by an order of nuns.
Giving his decision on a preliminary issue in her damages action the judge held that, in law, the Church "may be vicariously liable" for Father Baldwin's alleged wrongdoings.
Sky's Simon Newton said the ruling removed one obstacle to victims of alleged abuse who bring claims against the Church.
The trustees of the Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust - the defendant "standing in the shoes of the bishop" - were given leave to appeal.
Lord Faulks QC, for the defendants, said that the Catholic Church "takes sexual abuse extremely seriously and it is entirely concerned to eradicate it".
The preliminary issue was on a point of law, he said, and emphasised that the Church was not seeking to abandon responsibility for sexual abuse.
Lawyers for the alleged victim said it was the first time a court has been asked to rule on whether the "relationship between a Catholic priest and his bishop is akin to an employment relationship".
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