ST. PAUL (MN)
The Associated Press, News Partner
May 16, 2019
The lawsuit attempts to trace a direct line from clergy sex abuse victims to the Vatican, through Minnesota church officials.
Three brothers who were sexually abused by a priest from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Vatican, claiming the Holy See bears responsibility because the case was mishandled by former Archbishop John Nienstedt and the Vatican’s former ambassador to the United States.
The lawsuit attempts to trace a direct line from clergy sex abuse victims to the Vatican, through Minnesota church officials. Luke, Stephen and Ben Hoffman were abused by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, roughly between 2009 and 2012.
“I have too many nieces and nephews to let something like this happen to anybody else,” Stephen Hoffman said about his decision to come forward.
Nienstedt and the former ambassador, Carlo Maria Viganò, have previously denied the allegations raised in the lawsuit. The Vatican’s U.S. lawyer, Jeffrey Lena, had no immediate comment. In the past Lena has described sex abuse lawsuits against the Vatican as publicity stunts.
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