BishopAccountability.org
 
  Victims Urged to Name Pope in Child Sex Abuse Cases

By Caroline O’Doherty
Irish Examiner [Ireland]
June 20, 2005

VICTIMS of clerical child sex abuse here have been urged to name the Pope as a responsible party in any legal proceedings they take against the Catholic Church.

The call comes from an Irish-American lawyer who is endeavouring to create a legal precedent by compelling Pope Benedict XVI to give evidence in a lawsuit he is taking on behalf of three young men who claim abuse by a former seminary student.

Daniel Shea will hear later this week whether there has been a decision by the US State Department on a request by Pope Benedict to be granted diplomatic immunity in the case.

Mr Shea is basing his action against Pope Benedict on an interpretation of a recently uncovered letter the Pontiff wrote to the world's bishops in 2001 setting out how they should deal with a variety of clerical misdemeanours.

He also says the letter lays down a statute of limitations which prevents priests referring such complaints to the civil authorities for ten years after the alleged victim reaches the age of 18. By that stage, the statute of limitations that applies in civil law in most US states would have expired and a plaintiff would be legally prohibited from taking a case.

By issuing this letter, Mr Shea claims the Pope, who at the time was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and right hand man to Pope John Paul II, obstructed justice and effectively ordered the cover-up of child sex abuse and shielding of paedophile priests.

The Texas-based lawyer, whose ancestors hailed from Cork and Kerry, travelled to Ireland and Britain to try to build support for his strategy. "I think everyone in Ireland who is taking a case against the Catholic Church should cite Joseph Ratzinger in their proceedings. The way the Church handled these matters was nothing less than an international conspiracy and that needs to be tackled internationally."

The Church in the US is vigorously denying Mr Shea's claims, arguing the letter has been misinterpreted and the procedures for handling abuse complaints did not prohibit reporting matters to the police.

Mr Shea says if the State Department agrees to grant the Pope immunity, he will challenge the decision on constitutional grounds.