A US appeals court has ruled that three Kentucky men can pursue a lawsuit against the Vatican for the sex abuse committed by US priests.
Central to the case is a 1962 Vatican mandate unearthed in 2003 that outlined a policy of “strictest” secrecy regarding allegations of sexual abuse by clergy and threatened those who spoke out with excommunication.
The Vatican had tried to block the case, alleging that it orchestrated a cover-up of sexual abuse by clergy with the argument that it was protected by laws granting sovereign states immunity from most US civil proceedings.
The federal appeals court ruled that exceptions in the law could allow the Vatican to be held liable for the actions of Church employees acting within the scope of their employment in the US.
“The portions of plaintiffs’ claims that are based upon the conduct of bishops, archbishops and Holy See personnel while supervising allegedly abusive clergy satisfy all four requirements of the tortious act exception,” Circuit Judge Julia Smith Gibbons wrote in a 20-page ruling on Monday.
The Vatican cannot, however, be held liable for the actual abuse because these acts “were not done while ... acting within the scope of their employment,” Gibbons wrote.
Actions taken outside of the US also do not fall under the jurisdiction of US courts, she said.
The case will now return to a lower court to determine whether the claims made by the plaintiffs are sufficient to try the case under the exceptions to the Foreign Sovereignty Immunity Act (FSIA.) Should jurisdiction be established, the court would then turn to the question of whether the Vatican is, in fact, liable.
“The decision does not address liability at all. It’s restricted to a theoretical question of whether there could be jurisdiction,” said attorney Jeffrey Lena, who represents the Holy See in the case.
“The Holy See still maintains that it has full immunity under the FSIA,” he said.
The structure of the Roman Catholic Church raises questions as to whether bishops and other clergy can be considered employees of the Vatican.
The ruling was hailed as a potential breakthrough by abuse victims.
“This is a very encouraging sign and very long overdue step in the long march toward justice, prevention and healing,” said Barbara Dorris, outreach director for the victims group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
Lena said the Holy See had not challenged whether anyone was harmed in the case but was instead focused on whether a US court had jurisdiction over the Vatican, a foreign sovereign.
He added that the ruling did not establish whether Vatican policy contributed to the allegations of thousands of incidents abuse by Roman Catholic clergy.
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