Vatican Secrecy Protection Hinges on US Appeals Court Ruling

RedTracker| Vatican attorneys have asked the Supreme Court to hear an appeal of an Oregon sex abuse case, in which an American appeals court has refused to grant the Holy Sea its usual status of immunity as a foreign country.

Lawyers in Oregon are arguing that priests around the world are “employees” of the pope for whom he is responsible. To date, it’s nearly impossible to sue the Vatican.

“I want to know what the Vatican knew and when they knew it,” said William McMurry, who is representing alleged abuse victims in the Kentucky case.

Jeff Anderson, who has represented hundreds of victims since the 1980s and is working on the Oregon case, acknowledges that he is determined to penetrate the Vatican’s secretive culture.

“The reason this is such a grave problem in the Catholic Church is because the Vatican operates with such insularity and arrogance,” Anderson said. “They remain legally impenetrable. This is the first foot in that door.” via Washington Post

Update on Sun, March 28, 2010 by Anne

Pope Benedict has opened Holy Week indicating that he will “not be intimidated” by accusations against the Vatican.

In his Palm Sunday address the Pope said that Jesus Christ “leads us towards courage which does not allow us to be intimidated by the chatter of dominant opinions, towards patience which supports and sustains others”. via London Times

Update on Mon, March 29, 2010 by Anne

From the Catholic News Service is a good article explaining why the Vatican believes it’s being unfairly targeted by the media in its handling of sex abuse cases: Vatican intensifies defense of pope on sex abuse decisions.