OREGON
Bend Bulletin
By Steven Dubois / The Associated Press
Published: August 07. 2013
PORTLAND — A former Oregon man who said he was sexually abused by a pedophile priest nearly 50 years ago has withdrawn his appeal of a ruling that said the Vatican did not employ the priest and is not liable for damages.
Lawyer Jeff Anderson named the Vatican as one of the defendants in the 2002 lawsuit he filed on behalf of the man identified as John Doe. Anderson said Tuesday his client still believes “all roads lead to Rome” but has grown weary of the long legal odyssey. The decision was made shortly before a deadline to reply to the Vatican’s appellate briefing. …
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman examined thousands of pages of documents before determining last year that the Vatican did not employ Ronan and was not involved in the priest’s transfers. An employee relationship between the Vatican and Ronan could have allowed for an exception to a federal law that generally prohibits lawsuits against foreign sovereign entities.
Lena said Doe and Anderson had the documents showing that only the religious order knew about Ronan’s abuse. “They just continued to beat on this case way beyond when they knew it should have died.”
He said in a statement that the case is the third of its kind to “disintegrate in the face of legal and factual challenge,” referring to lawsuits against the Holy See that were filed in Kentucky and Wisconsin and later withdrawn.
Anderson said an earlier ruling in which the judge said the Vatican is not immune under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act was an important win, and the dropping of Doe’s lawsuit will not end his effort to hold the Vatican accountable.
“Far from the end,” he said. “For us, it’s the beginning because this case is the one that opened the door.”
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