VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service | Aug. 7, 2013
VATICAN CITY At the request of a man allegedly abused by a priest in 1965, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed his case claiming the Vatican was the priest’s employer and could be liable for damages.
Jeffrey Lena, the counsel for the Holy See, said in a statement that the lawsuit “never should have been filed in the first place.”
He told Vatican Radio in an email interview, “This case was based on a couple of simple and erroneous ideas about the Catholic Church. First, that all priests are controlled by the Holy See and second that the Holy See receives information about the activities of all priests and makes specific decisions, either directly or ‘by and through’ dioceses and religious orders.”
The plaintiff, a former Oregon resident known as John V. Doe, and his attorneys were trying to prove that the Vatican exercised direct control over priests, Lena said, but “this is not how the Catholic Church works.”
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