Portland Judge Dismisses Vatican As Defendant in Lawsuit over Pedophile Priest

By Aimee Green
The Oregonian
August 20, 2012

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/08/portland_judge_throws_out_vati.html

Pope Benedict lights a candle in the window of the Vatican in Rome, in an undated photo.

A federal judge has dismissed the Vatican from a lawsuit filed by a former Portland teenager who says he was sexually abused by a pedophile priest who was transferred from Ireland to Chicago and then Portland in an effort to sweep his past under the rug.

In a downtown Portland hearing Monday, U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman said the Vatican didn't employ the Rev. Andrew Ronan, who -- according to the lawsuit -- molested a Portland teenager in 1965 and 1966. Mosman's ruling means the Vatican can't be held financially liable for the abuse.

"It's clearly a disappointment, but we're definitely not discouraged," said Jeff Anderson, the Minnesota attorney who is representing Doe.

Anderson noted the judge said he likely would not be the last to rule on the question of whether the Holy See employed priests such as Ronan.

Anderson said his client will appeal the judge's decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jeffrey Lena, a Berkley, Calif. attorney for the Vatican, described Mosman's ruling as "quite significant ...because the Holy See has patiently and cooperatively worked with the American judicial process to arrive at this day."

Not at issue Monday was the remaining defendant. Doe's lawsuit is still active against Ronan's religious order. Other defendants, including the archdiocese in Portland and Chicago, were dismissed years ago.

Doe filed his case in 2002, and for years, attorneys have battled over motions. Doe's case was one of the first in the U.S. to sue the Vatican for sexual abuse by clergy, and it encouraged a spurt of other suits that since have been dismissed. In 2005, the suit persevered as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Doe's case could go forward despite arguments that the Vatican couldn't be sued in U.S. court under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

But Doe's latest battle -- whether the Vatican was Ronan's employer -- suffered a deep blow with Monday's ruling. Specifically, the judge looked at the facts of the case, which included thousands of pages of legal briefs and exhibits, before determining that the Vatican didn't employ or control Ronan.

Doe's attorney, Anderson, said Ronan molested children in Ireland, and then in Chicago. He was transferred to Portland and given the opportunity to abuse children again -- all the while, the abuse was kept secret from parishioners, police and prosecutors in order to avoid scandal, Anderson said.

"We believe all of the responsibility lies with the Vatican," Anderson said.

Ronan stepped down from his position as priest in 1966 shortly after the Portland archdiocese began a proceeding against him, and the Vatican approved the departure, returning him to lay status. He died in 1992.