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PDF versionExplosive sex abuse lawsuit against Vatican dropped
by John L Allen Jr on Feb. 11, 2012
|| Victim's lawyer vows to 'hold Vatican fully accountable' ||
ROME -- A Wisconsin sex abuse lawsuit against the Vatican, which helped trigger a global firestorm in early 2010, was withdrawn late Friday. It marks the formal end of a case that seemed to cast doubt on Pope Benedict XVI’s role in the abuse crisis, and shifted focus from local bishops to an alleged cover-up in Rome.
Lawyers for the victim filed a notice of voluntary dismissal on Friday, effectively abandoning the lawsuit. It had named not only the Vatican but also Pope Benedict XVI and two senior Vatican officials, Cardinals Tarcisio Bertone and Angelo Sodano, as defendants. The suit had been filed by Minnesota-based attorney Jeffrey Anderson, who has frequently represented sex abuse victims against the church.
Anderson said at the time the case was filed that he hoped to take formal depositions from Benedict XVI, Bertone and Sodano, concerning the Vatican’s role in the sex abuse crisis. Bertone is the current Secretary of State, the top official in the Vatican after the pope, a position formerly held by Sodano.
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See also: Vatican lawyer's statement on end of sex abuse case
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Anderson told NCR on Saturday that the decision to withdraw the case was "pragmatic and practical," based largely on the fact that as a result of proceedings related to the bankruptcy of the Milwaukee archdiocese, he had already obtained most of the files regarding the Vatican's involvement he could have gotten through a separate lawsuit. Those documents are presently under seal, he said, but he said they paint an "ugly picture" of the Vatican's role.
"We have not in any way abandoned our effort to hold the Vatican legally and fully accountable," Anderson said.
While Anderson said he does not plan to refile the Wisconsin case, he still hopes to pursue depositions of Vatican figures such as Bertone and Sodano as part of other litigation. In the meantime, he said, he plans to depose Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan of New York, a former archbishop of Milwaukee, about his role in the Wisconsin case.
The Vatican’s lawyer, California-based Jeffrey Lena, nevertheless welcomed the withdrawal of the case.
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“A case like this, which was held together by a mendacious web of claims of international conspiracy, amounts to what appears in its aftermath to have been little more than a misuse of judicial process and waste of judicial resources,” he said.
With the collapse of a similar case in Kentucky in 2010, Friday’s dismissal leaves only the Doe v. Holy See case in Oregon, originally filed in 2002, as an active sex abuse claim against the Vatican in American courts. (Another lawsuit in Chicago has been filed but not served on the Vatican through diplomatic channels.)
Anderson said that another reason for dismissing the Wisconsin case is that it allows attorneys to concentrate on the litigation in Oregon.
In terms of jurisdiction, lawyers for the Vatican argued in the Wisconsin case, as they have in others, that the Vatican is immune because it’s a sovereign state. Substantively, they contended that under church law, responsibility for supervising priests and other church personnel rests with local bishops, not in Rome.
The Wisconsin case centered on the late Fr. Lawrence Murphy, who died in 1988, and who was accused of abusing some 200 boys at the Milwaukee area St. John’s School for the Deaf between 1950 and 1974. The plaintiff in the case against the Vatican was one of those victims, whose lawyers claimed the abuse could have been prevented had the Vatican acted appropriately.
The case triggered an avalanche of negative press coverage for the Vatican and the pope in early 2010, partly because it coincided with a mushrooming series of abuse scandals in Europe. Those revelations included a 1980 case in the Munich, Germany, archdiocese, in which an abuser priest fell through the cracks on the watch of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, today Benedict XVI.
Documents filed as part of the Wisconsin lawsuit case showed that in 1996, the then-Archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland, wrote to Ratzinger requesting action against Murphy. By that stage, Ratzinger headed the Vatican’s powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Bertone, who was Ratzinger’s top deputy at the time, later counseled against a formal church trial, after Murphy wrote to the Vatican requesting clemency on the basis of age and failing health. Bertone did, however, recommend imposing “pastoral measures” on Murphy, and told Weakland the statute of limitations in church law had been waived if a trial proved necessary.
Those documents were the centerpiece of a March 24, 2010, story in the New York Times under the headline, “Vatican failed to defrock U.S. priest who abused boys.”
The story, and an accompanying editorial, drew a stinging rebuke from American Cardinal William Levada, who now holds the pope’s previous job as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Levada called the coverage “deficient by any reasonable standards of fairness.”
Coupled with subsequent revelations about other American priests whose cases had also come to the attention of Rome, such as Stephen Kiesle in Oakland and Michael Teta in Tucson, the Murphy story and lawsuit helped create impressions that Ratzinger had prevented local bishops from taking aggressive action.
In the lawsuit, Anderson also cited a 1962 Vatican document called Crimen Sollicitationis. It outlined procedures for prosecuting offenses against the sacrament of penance, including sexual solicitation.
Because the document called for handling such cases confidentially, critics have touted it as a “smoking gun” proving a Vatican-orchestrated cover-up. The Vatican, however, has said the document applied only to the church’s internal discipline, and did not address the question of reporting such cases to police and prosecutors.
Defenders of the pope also argue that in cases such as Murphy’s, the issue before the Vatican was not whether abuse should be tolerated, but whether the offending priest should be laicized in addition to permanent removal from ministry. Any perceived delays, they say, occurred because those requests came at a time when the Vatican was reviewing its policies on laicization.
They contend that Ratzinger backed new anti-abuse policies in 2001 and again in 2003, and has supported them as pope.
On Jan. 31, Judge Rudolph Randa in Wisconsin denied a request from Anderson to be granted extra time to respond to the Vatican’s motions to dismiss the case, filed both on the grounds of jurisdiction and because they charged the plaintiffs had failed to state an adequate legal claim.
Mr Allen, what is meant by
Mr Allen, what is meant by "Pope Benedict's role in the abuse crisis"? Did the Pope have a role? Did someone say that he had a role? Saying those words are like an aspersion. I think that you, or anyone else, should not use the phrase.
Sincerely
Robert M Kraus
Akron Ohio
I Agree! The Pope had NO role
I Agree! The Pope had NO role in this and that is why the case was dropped. Why do you give the losing attorney so much space to continue his baseless claims and barely note the vatican's attorney's comments.
This article could have clarified the facts of the case, yet hasn't done justice to the story while giving Anderson yet another mouthpiece to spew his fanatical rants. At one time I had admired Anderson for his work on behalf of abused children, but I have lost respect for him especially because of his behavior in this case.
I am disappointed that this doesn't reflect your usually balanced reporting Mr. Allen.
Prior to becoming Pope,
Prior to becoming Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger was Head Prefect for the CDF, "Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith," at the Vatican. It was to his department, that every international allegation of Priest Pedophilia was finally sent. For Pope Benedict to ever claim that he didn't know of the extent of these abuse claims would be nothing less than ludicrous! Cardinal Ratzinger was also well aware of an international edict, sent out to every bishop, all over the world, and it was called "Crimen Sollicitationis!" Google it, and you will discover how it was a boiler plate for intimidating those who were abused by members of the clergy with threats of excommunication, etc..... if "Papal Secrets," meaning evidence presented in these proceedings, were made known! I have always maintained that the chief reason why Cardinal Ratzinger was made Pope was to protect him from testifying in international courts! Time will tell, but in the meantime, open your eyes and read the contents of "Crimen Sollicitationis!" Then, ask yourself how "innocent," our new Pope is!
You need to follow the story
You need to follow the story better, Robert. Mr. Allen didn't come up with the Pope's potential involvement in the case. Maybe you're casting aspersions.
PAPAL SHAME REMAINS .......
PAPAL SHAME REMAINS ....... John, the lawyer who asked for this dismissal, was denied more time by the judge. He is involved in numerous other large cases against the hierarchy, including the current Milwaukee bankruptcy case involving, among other complex issues, the efforts of your latest hero, Timothy Dolan, to move the diocese's assets to a cemetary trust so that abuse victims get stiffed.
So the understaffed lawyer is forced to dismiss the case since he has other more pressing and promising cases against the hierarchy. The Church is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on countless high priced lawyers trying to avert victims claims, and sometimes is successful. This changes nothing! Justice may be denied, but the sordid truth remains.
Strong evidence indicates over two hundred deaf children were sexually abused and Ratzinger and Bertone failed to act timely. These are facts. All of the spin by Jeff Luna, the pope's lawyer you love to quote, won't change that.
The pope has played a shell game for years in evading responsibility with his failures in Munich and Rome to address priest rape of defenseless children in an open, honest and effective manner. He couldn't even personally visit this week his own abuse summit PR stunt that was held near the Vatican.
As today's comprehensive AP story reports, the pope is busy dealing with the corrupt curia's crimes in stealing Catholic donations and rigging the next secret election of the world's last surviving absolute monarchy, while his puppets in the US con Catholics with "religious liberty" ploys.
Meanwhile, in the US, Vigano, the recently sacked papal nuncio, ironically works to criminalize contraception by sacking Obama, the US "prosecutor-in-chief", and replacing him with Santorum, the Inquisition's preferred candidate.
Amazingly and shamefully, the oldest totalitarian organization on earth is using a "religious liberty" disguise to try to impose by government coercion on all America a sexual dogma conceived in secrecy and unsuccessfully forced on Catholics who had no real say in the anti-contraception dogma's formulation. The dogma was formulated in the Sixties in the curia's backroom and rejected, without any open consultation, the carefully expressed decision of the pope's own birth control commission. Now the pope and his right wing partners want to shove contaception down the throats of Ameicans who by huge margins have democratically rejected it.
The Founding Fathers would be shocked to see this attempt to establish a state church by rigging US elections.
For AP's excellent and comprehensive update on the latest Vatican machinations, please click on at:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/vatican-beseiged-leaks-con...
For information on the "religious liberty" ploy to sack Obama via a contraceptive Trojan Horse criminal defense strategy, please note the comment, "Shame on NCR", accessible by clicking on at:
http://ncronline.org/news/politics/obama-administration-went-too-far-con...
Oh, I see, they managed to
Oh, I see, they managed to bankrupt the Milwaukee Diocese, so they can have a 'breather', so they withdrew the suit. After all, that this is what these lawyers, SNAP and the NCR are about: to drive as many Dioceses as possible into bankruptcy. Oh yes, they are sooooo Catholic, and soooooo Christian. They are soooo 'caring' (about themselves).
Who cares, that hundreds or thousands of people, good lay people, who are implementing the majority of the Church’s works, are getting laid off and/or absorbing substantial salary cuts (its ‘too bad’, but doesn’t matter that they happened to have a family). These are only collateral damage in the fight to destroy the hierarchy and the current structure of the Church.
Yeah, poor under-staffed Jeff
Yeah, poor under-staffed Jeff Anderson. Probably working out of some non-descript store front in a tiny town with nothing but a secretary to answer the phone.
Now one might consider it prudent and intelligent for an attorney juggling hundreds of cases from coast to coast to consider his staffing needs before he takes a flyer on a lawsuit against the Vatican.
That is, if his intent was seeking truth and justice, rather than simple public embarrassment of the defendant.
Seems to me that Anderson got exactly what he wanted by filing a lawsuit destined to go nowhere from the moment it was filed.
Thank you, Jerry. Your posts
Thank you, Jerry. Your posts always add excellent facts/information to the discussion, not anger or undue emotion. I understand the anger and emotion of others well, but those emotions don't help readers really understand anything about the case or situation. I appreciate your taking the time to explain things more fully.
Regarding: "In terms of
Regarding: "In terms of jurisdiction, lawyers for the Vatican argued in the Wisconsin case, as they have in others, that the Vatican is immune because it’s a sovereign state. Substantively, they contended that under church law, responsibility for supervising priests and other church personnel rests with local bishops, not in Rome."
- This statement points to three problems: 1) Moral Failing: the church is hiding behind the trappings of a secular state; that is, it resorts to a secular treaty and the international law of secular states to stymie justice, hide bad judgements, and bury misdeeds. 2) Misdirection of the law suits: the law suits seem to want to sue 'the Vatican'. In as much as the issue is suing the leader(s) of the church it makes more sense to sue the a) archbishop of rome, b)the archdioces of rome, 3) the advisors of said archbishop of rome. In the event that the archbishop of rome decides to hide in the nation of the Vatican, it makes sense then for the secular nations to enter the state seize records and archives, and retain for judgement those men who act for and on behalf of the church headed by the archbishop of Rome. 3) Lack of ownership of responsibility: does anyone think today that the bishops of the USA or the world acted so independently of the archdiocese of rome that decisions to overlook church law, or to interpret it into non-applicability actually resides with the heads of the local churches, the dioceses? The core of the scandal of episcopal secrecy which aided and abetted the rape of children and the sexual molestation of young people is evidence of a culture of collusion orchestrated from the curia of the Archbishop of Rome the intent of which had more to do with wealth and human honour than with 'God's little ones'.
Not to worry, "Victims from
Not to worry, "Victims from countries around the world, including the United States, Germany, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands, have come forward with reports of abuse by priests. Many victims accompanied the human rights lawyers to The Hague to urge prosecutors to investigate."
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Pope-Sued-for-Alleged-Crimes-...
Sooner or later the walls of the Vatican will crack. They are under siege from countries all over the world. The US case against the Vatican is only one of many cases filed with the International Criminal Court.
Mr. Allen: You say, "It marks
Mr. Allen: You say, "It marks the formal end of a case that seemed to cast doubt on Pope Benedict XVI's role in the abuse scandal . . . ."
But on the contrary, the case did NOT seem to cast doubt on his role in the abuse scandal.
The case involved raising the issue of his possible involvement in the abuse scandal.
"In terms of jurisdiction,
"In terms of jurisdiction, lawyers for the Vatican argued in the Wisconsin case, as they have in others, that the Vatican is immune because it’s a sovereign state. Substantively, they contended that under church law, responsibility for supervising priests and other church personnel rests with local bishops, not in Rome."
Fiction and evasion.
Only from the Vatican.
We couldn't make up this stuff if we tried.
Still more reason for the U.S. government to cut diplomatic ties with the Vatican.
One has to wonder how many
One has to wonder how many millions of dollars were spent by the Roman Catholic Church to protect the Pope and his two Cardinals.
I understand people wanting
I understand people wanting justice done because of the sexual abuse - I too was sexually abused - but not by the church. And no amount of money can make things better. My faith in God - did how ever. I could have sued the 3 that abused me - but why? Money can't change a thing! I forgave my abusers for their actions - but they still can't admit to what they did. Which is their problem to face. I could careless if they admit it or not. I and God know the truth. I don't need a lawyer to try to get the truth out and pay him handsomely for it. And I don't have to see the men in jail either. I have made it known to the families what they had done so they have the responsibility to watch them if they make the mistake again.And yes I was abused as a child - age 11 - 17.
One of the main reasons for
One of the main reasons for reporting sexual abuse (or any abuse)is to help protect others who would otherwise become victims of that same person. One reason (some) men commit this crime is because they can get by with it, that is, they have the opportunity to do it and they figure no one will report them. But times are changing in this country when child sex abuse will no longer be excused, minimized, or discredited. Citizens and law makers are becoming more and more aware of what an awful crime this is and are more and more determined to incarcerate the offenders to protect the rest of society.
One should be ashamed to be a
One should be ashamed to be a Catholic in today's times. The pope is the chief and it his responsibility to know what his indians are doing to God's Children. NO EXCUSES- This SOB pope should not be publishing books with Fr. Fessio, he needs to be stopping clergy sex abuse. There should be nothing more important to him. He is allowing the shame directed against the Catholic church. He has got to know by now Cardinal Burke and Cardinal Levada are not doing their jobs and are making things worse. Withdrawing this lawsuit just indicates Anderson has no guts.
Anyone who thinks for a
Anyone who thinks for a moment that bishops anywhere act without knowing what will satisfy the Vatican, or only after receiving precise directions from the Vatican--usually after they have inquired as to how to handle exceptional matters--just doesn't know the church's history or secretive style. The CIA could still learn a lot from the hierarchical system of the Catholic Church. Those who think otherwise don't know general history, and they don't know hierarchy politics from assignment to retirement, whether that retirement is forced for speaking one's episcopal mind, as with good Bishop William Morris of Toowoomba, Australia, or the suspicious silence and pretended regularity surrounding the early retirement of Bishop Anthony Pilla of Cleveland, OH. Then there's Auxiliary James Quinn, also of Cleveland, who played a leading role in the sinful, criminal cover-up. He was quietly allowed to withdraw to only officiating at Confirmations while retaining his formal position as auxiliary until he reached the canonical retirement age of 75. That provided him with the cover of "respectability" after all his brazen national leadership in ignoring and demeaning victims of sexual assault while protecting sick and criminal clergy, including bishops. Bishops work for the Vatican, not the lay people, certainly not for Jesus. In spite of any pretense of collegiality, they are only local pawns of the royal monarchy of popes and their privy council curias. The whole problem is "the vine and branches" style of absolute management that excludes the lay People of God from vital roles. They are only exploited to fill collection baskets with their hard-earned money to support the sinful, criminal clericalism that has wrecked the church.
The Vatican has dodged but
The Vatican has dodged but one of many bullets to come its way. They will not be able to continue to deny lack of responsibility as there is too much evidence that will continue to go against these poor leaders. Their integrity is no longer in question, it is completely gone.
Does Jesus and what he taught
Does Jesus and what he taught and what he stood for ever enter into Vatican thinking or is that "stuff" all on the back-burner? Jesus taught us to protect the young. The Vatican teaches to first protect the Vatican. Am I crazy when I see contradictions in the actions of the Vatican and what they solemnly profess? If it wasn't for Eucharist I'd be long gone from this sinful and sinning organization.
The religious Untouchables
The religious Untouchables skipped away free once more, didn't they? And the masses are just going to sit back and allow this atrocity of sexual abuse of kids and young people to just blow away. In fact, they'll keep dropping the money in the collection baskets so the bishops can hire sleazy accountants and lawyers to help them destroy their kids. Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary and forget about it. The distorted image of a God that we have created has been busted to pieces, and deservedly so.
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