{"id":2223,"date":"2010-05-26T17:20:48","date_gmt":"2010-05-26T17:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/2010\/05\/obama-sides-with-vatican-in-ab.php"},"modified":"2010-05-26T17:20:48","modified_gmt":"2010-05-26T17:20:48","slug":"obama-sides-with-vatican-in-ab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2010\/05\/obama-sides-with-vatican-in-ab","title":{"rendered":"Obama Sides with Vatican in Abuse Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (RNS) The Obama administration has made a rare foray into the Catholic sexual abuse crisis, backing the Vatican’s claim it is immune to lawsuits in the U.S. because it is a sovereign nation.
\nIn a brief filed on Friday (May 21) before the Supreme Court, the acting solicitor general argued an appellate court erred in 2009 when it ruled the Vatican could be held liable for the alleged sexual abuse of a Seattle-area man in the 1960s.
\nThe Supreme Court is considering the Vatican’s appeal of “Holy See v. John V. Doe.” Lawyers from the Department of State and Department of Justice joined the acting solicitor general’s brief, which asks the high court to send the case back to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
\nLawyers for the unnamed man argue that the Vatican transferred the allegedly abusive priest from Ireland to the U.S., despite knowing of accusations against him.
\nBut with limited exceptions, the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act of 1976 protects foreign governments from being sued in U.S. courts.
\n“Improperly subjecting a foreign state to suit can in some circumstances raise foreign relations and reciprocity concerns,” the Obama administration’s brief argues.
\nIn 2005, the Bush administration successfully urged a Texas court to dismiss a suit against Pope Benedict XVI because he enjoys immunity as the Holy See’s head of state. The government filed a similar motion in 1994 in a suit against the late Pope John Paul II.
\nIn an separate case ongoing in Kentucky, the Vatican is arguing it is not responsible for bishops who transferred abusive priests because the bishops are not Vatican employees.
\nBarbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of Abused Priests, called John Doe’s suit an “uphill struggle,” but said “we’re glad this brave victim still has a chance to expose Vatican complicity in horrific child sex crimes.”
\n— Daniel Burke
\nc. 2010 Religion News Service\\
\nCopyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (RNS) The Obama administration has made a rare foray into the Catholic sexual abuse crisis, backing the Vatican’s claim it is immune to lawsuits in the U.S. because it is a sovereign nation. 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