Court dismisses Vatican from church sex abuse lawsuit

The Vatican has been dismissed from a sexual abuse lawsuit filed by an alleged victim of disgraced former archbishop Anthony Apuron.

The Guam District Court found that the Holy See is absolved of certain responsibilities by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

But the 35-page decision and order does provide explicit details of the allegations against the now-defrocked Apuron.

The Holy See, also commonly referred to as the Vatican, was one of several Catholic Church defendants in the lawsuit, which alleged that it was aware of numerous similar sexual abuse acts by then-Archbishop Apuron, and should share in the responsibility.

But Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood granted the Holy See’s motion to dismiss citing among other things, lack of subject matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction under the foreign sovereign immunities act.

The order with prejudice means the Vatican can’t be sued again for damages by the plaintiff. But contained in the court…