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	Federal Court in Oregon Rules That Sex Abuse Suit against Vatican May Proceed CNW June 7, 2006 http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/June2006/07/c3783.html Judge Denies the Vatican's Motion to Dismiss Judge Rules Vatican Is Not Immune Under Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act Landmark Decision Is Believed to Be the First Ruling of Its Kind Against the Vatican PORTLAND, Ore., June 7 /CNW/ -- In a ground-breaking decision, a Federal judge in Portland, OR, ruled today that a child sex abuse case against the Vatican (Holy See) may proceed. John V. Doe v. Holy See, et al. was filed in Portland, OR, in April 2002. The suit stems from the sexual abuse of John V. Doe by Fr. Andrew Ronan, a priest of the Friar Servants of Mary order. Between 1955 and 1965, Ronan admitted to sexually abusing several children in Ireland and in Chicago, IL. He was assigned to Portland, OR, in 1965. Ronan began sexually abusing John V. Doe in 1966, when John V. Doe was 15 years old. The Archdiocese of Portland was dismissed from the action following their decision to file bankruptcy. The Religious Order remains a defendant. This was the fourth challenge by the Vatican to have the action dismissed, the first three attempts due to service of process issues. Once those issues were cured, the Vatican moved for dismissal, claiming they were immune from litigation relating to clergy sexually abusing children. In denying the Holy See's motion to dismiss, Judge Michael Mosman held that the Holy See is not entitled to immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act because, "without warning parishioners of a known danger, [the Holy See] placed a priest it knew to be a child molester in a position in which, for the third time, he would have private access to minors." The judge held that the FSIA was not created to protect conduct such as that. Attorney Jeff Anderson said, "This is a tremendously significant victory for this brave survivor and all victims who understand that the conspiracy, cover-up, and criminal activity start at the Vatican. Father Andrew Ronan was one, of perhaps hundreds of dangerous pedophile priests who continued molesting kids because of Vatican duplicity. This is a long overdue step toward healing, truth telling and justice. We believe it to be the first child molestation and cover-up case to overcome this crucial hurdle. No other sex abuse case against the Vatican has gotten this far. We are grateful for the chance to move forward now against the Vatican for its role in this worldwide crisis."
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