BishopAccountability.org
	Pope Wants Exemption from U.S. Law Vermont Guardian [Houston TX] May 31, 2005 HOUSTON — The Vatican has asked the U.S. State Department to declare Pope Benedict XVI immune from a sexual abuse lawsuit filed in Houston, according to court documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle. On May 20, a church official contacted the State Department, requesting that it notify a Houston federal court of the pope's immunity as the head of a foreign state. The lawsuit, filed by three anonymous plaintiffs, accuses the pope, then acting as a cardinal, of conspiring to cover up the alleged abuse. The suit names a former seminary student as the alleged abuser. In a confidential letter sent to every Catholic bishop in May 2001 (Vermont Guardian, April 29), then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger issued an order ensuring the church's investigations into child sex abuse claims be carried out in secret. Lawyers for abuse victims claim it was designed to prevent allegations from becoming public knowledge or being investigated by the police. The letter states that the church's jurisdiction "begins to run from the day when the minor has completed the 18th year of age" and lasts for 10 years. "Preliminary investigations" into any claims of abuse were to be sent to Ratzinger's office, which had the option of taking action or not. "Cases of this kind are subject to the pontifical secret," the letter concludes, and violating the ruling carries penalties, including thethreat of excommunication. Daniel Shea, a lawyer for two alleged victims, said the letter "speaks for itself. You have to ask: why do you not start the clock ticking until the kid turns 18? It's an obstruction of justice."