PORTLAND (OR)
Catholic News Agency
By Kevin J. Jones
Portland, Ore., Aug 21, 2012 / 04:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A federal judge dismissed a sex abuse lawsuit against the Holy See on grounds that the Vatican was not an employer of the accused ex-priest and cannot be held financially liable for the abuse.
Jeffrey Lena, counsel for the Holy See, told CNA on Aug. 21 that the ruling is “particularly important.”
It follows a years-long legal examination of whether the Vatican has sovereign immunity protecting it from such lawsuits.
On Monday U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman in Portland, Ore. ruled that the laicized Servite priest Andrew Ronan, who allegedly molested the plaintiff as a teenager in 1965 and 1966, did not have an employee-employer relationship with the Vatican.
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