Vatican asks Rice for help in sex abuse lawsuit (Asking for immunity)

[NNN0LHI]

http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2005a/031105/031105h.php

Issue Date: March 11, 2005

Vatican asks Rice for help in sex abuse lawsuit
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome

Alongside predictable exchanges on Iraq, the Middle East and religious liberty, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in her Feb. 8 visit to the Vatican received an unexpected request -- to intervene in a U.S. lawsuit naming the Holy See as the defendant in a sex abuse case.

Church sources told NCR that Rice was asked by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican’s secretary of state, whether the U.S. government could stop a class-action lawsuit currently before a U.S. District Court in Louisville, Ky., that seeks to hold the Vatican financially responsible for the sexual abuse of minors.

Sources told NCR that Rice explained that under American law, foreign states are required to assert claims of sovereign immunity themselves before U.S. courts.

Vatican spokesperson Joaquín Navarro-Valls, asked by NCR for comment, responded March 2: “It’s obvious and reasonable that the Holy See would present its positions as a sovereign entity to the American State Department, and recall the immunity for its acts that international law anticipates.”

more

[cornermouse]

1. This is probably cynical of me.

But I suspect that if the Vatican forks over enough cash, Bush will find something that will eliminate the Vatican's pain.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. The pope had the chance when Bush came to visit before the election.

Wouldn't surprise me a bit if Bush gave him an option. Pass an edict that condemns Kerry and his pro-choice stance, or face the class action suit.

[Moderator]

2. locking

Not Latest Breaking News http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1295246