Ky. men drop abuse suit against the Vatican
http://pewforum.org/Religion-News/RNS-Ky-men-drop-abuse-suit-against-the-Vatican.aspx
August 10, 2010
by Daniel Burke
Religion News Service
(RNS) Three Kentucky men have dropped their six-year effort to sue the Vatican over sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy, citing insurmountable legal and practical obstacles.
The men, who say they were abused by priests in the Archdiocese of Louisville decades ago, filed a motion Monday (Aug. 9) requesting that a federal judge dismiss their claims.
The suit was one of several seeking to hold the Vatican responsible for sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, alleging that church officials and policies allowed the abuse to continue. Similar cases in Oregon and Wisconsin are ongoing.
All three cases carry important implications for U.S. church-state law and for the Catholic Church, which has been beset by nearly a decade of steady sex abuse allegations and lawsuits.
The Kentucky case was effectively ended by a previous court ruling that gave the Vatican qualified immunity as a sovereign nation, and the inability of the plaintiffs to gather more sex abuse victims who had not already settled with local dioceses for a class-action suit, attorney William McMurry told The Associated Press. In addition, two of the archbishops accused of misconduct have died.
McMurry had sought to prove that the Louisville archbishops were Vatican employees, a point disputed by Catholic leaders, who say bishops have the power to run their own dioceses.
Vatican lawyer Jeffrey Lena said in a statement, "This development confirms that, contrary to what the plaintiffs' lawyers repeatedly told the media, there has never been a Holy See policy requiring concealment of child sexual abuse."
Plaintiffs Drop Sex-Abuse Suit Against Vatican
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703435104575421443951992242.html
By ASHBY JONES
Three U.S. men who sued the Vatican for alleged sex abuse by priests have decided to end the case, in a big victory for the governing body of the Catholic Church.
The lawyer for the men asked U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II on Monday to dismiss the lawsuit, filed in 2004 in a Louisville, Ky. federal court. He essentially conceded that his clients had no chance of winning the lawsuit, which sought to hold the Vatican responsible for alleged sex abuse.
"We're not interested in banging our heads against the wall anymore," said William F. McMurry, the plaintiffs' lawyer. "The truth is that the U.S. courts have placed an impossible burden on plaintiffs trying to hold the Holy See responsible."
Lawsuits over alleged sex abuse by Catholic priests aren't new or unusual. But the Kentucky case gained notoriety because it targeted not U.S.-based priests or bishops, but the Vatican itself. According to the allegation, Catholic clergy in the U.S. engaged in a systematic cover-up of sex abuse under explicit instruction from the Holy See. The plaintiffs charged the cover-up led to numerous incidents of sex abuse.
In his filing, Mr. McMurry blamed earlier legal decisions in the case which supported the Vatican's argument that as a sovereign nation it was largely immune from lawsuits.
"Plaintiffs in this case are permitted only to pursue claims against the Holy See for the acts of its 'officials or employees' in the United States," the filing read. "Plaintiffs are without the legal right to pursue the Holy See for its direct acts."
Jeffrey Lena, a lawyer for the Vatican, said in a statement: "Six years ago, the plaintiffs' lawyers concocted a series of allegations. But they never had the evidence to back those allegations up. And that is the real reason plaintiffs now wish to dismiss their own case."
At least three other cases filed in the U.S. are pending against the Vatican. Michael Finnegan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in those, said the dismissal of the Kentucky case would have "no bearing at all" on them. "We believe in our cases and we're moving forward," he said.
Vatican pleased lawsuit is dropped
Lawyer cites failure to turn up new plaintiffs, Holy See's immunity.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/article_1009c031-37a5-5dcb-b4e4-a125bc317470.html
By DYLAN T. LOVAN • Associated Press | Posted: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 8:00 am
The Vatican spokesman is expressing satisfaction that three men who had sought to hold the Vatican liable in an American court for sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests have decided to abandon the case.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Tuesday it was "positive" that the lawsuit "in the end proved to be originating from an unfounded accusation." He said the Kentucky lawsuit, which started six years ago, had "had strong negative impact on public opinion."
However, Lombardi stressed that he sought not to "minimize the horror and condemnation" of child sex abuse or the compassion due to victims. He said justice for the victims and the protection of children remain a priority.
PREVIOUS VERSION OF STORY
LOUISVILLE, Ky. • Three men who sought to hold the Vatican liable in an American court for sexual abuses by Roman Catholic priests are abandoning the case, according to a court motion filed Monday.
Lawyers looked to question Pope Benedict XVI under oath but had to leap the high legal hurdle of the Vatican's sovereign immunity status in the U.S.
The Kentucky lawsuit was considered the first in the U.S. to make it to the stage of determining whether victims had a negligence claim against the Vatican. The Vatican argued that the plaintiffs never showed a connection between Rome and the American clergy abuse scandal.
The plaintiffs filed a motion on Monday asking a federal judge in Louisville to dismiss their claims.
Their attorney, William McMurry, said he was seeking to end the case because of the Vatican's immunity and failure to turn up new plaintiffs who haven't yet been involved in a Catholic clergy abuse case.
"Virtually every child who was abused and will come forward as an adult has come forward and sued a bishop and collected money, and once that happens, it's over," McMurry told The Associated Press. McMurry represented more than 240 abuse victims who settled with the Louisville Archdiocese for $25 million in 2003.
An attorney for the Vatican, which is referred to in the lawsuit as the Holy See, said the lawsuit lacked merit.
"This development confirms that, contrary to what the plaintiffs' lawyers repeatedly told the media, there has never been a Holy See policy requiring concealment of child sexual abuse," attorney Jeffrey Lena said in a statement. "The theory crafted by the plaintiffs' lawyers six years ago misled the American public."
Lena said: "That the case against the Holy See always lacked merit does not mean that the plaintiffs themselves did not suffer as a result of sexual abuse. But bringing this case only distracted from the important goal of protecting children from harm."
The judge must still rule on whether the case can be dismissed, but attorneys on both sides say it has virtually ended.
McMurry wrote in the dismissal motion that an earlier court ruling that recognized the Vatican's immunity allowed the plaintiffs to proceed on the narrow argument that U.S. bishops are officials or employees of the Vatican.
McMurry said because of the court's determination, "the grant of jurisdiction was so narrow that it's meaningless."
The Vatican has argued that its U.S. bishops act independently, control their own budgets and are not employees of the Holy See.
McMurry said one of the plaintiffs, Michael J. Turner, was involved in the 2003 settlement against the Louisville Archdiocese, which voided his ability to seek a claim from the Vatican. Two other plaintiffs, James O'Bryan and Donald Poppe, alleged abuses that occurred several decades ago.
"In both cases the bishops in question are deceased and further discovery regarding the bishops' actions is believed to be impossible," the motion said.
McMurry said a months-long search for new victims who haven't settled in a clergy abuse case failed to find any willing to come forward.
"No one who has not sued a bishop is in a position to help us despite our best efforts over the past several months," McMurry said.
A separate American claim in Oregon against the Vatican is making its way through the federal courts after the U.S. Supreme Court refused in June to hear an appeal from the Holy See. The suit was filed in 2002 by a Seattle-area man who said a priest molested him in the late 1960s. Attorneys in that suit are also arguing that priests are Vatican employees for the purpose of American law.
