By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Facing challenges on several fronts, the Vatican has launched its most detailed defense to date against claims that it should be held liable for U.S. bishops who did not report priests who abused minors, and that a 1962 Vatican document required bishops to remain silent about these cases.
The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that the Vatican’s U.S. lawyer, Jeffrey Lena, is planning to respond to claims that the 1962 document, Crimen Sollicitationis (Latin for “Crimes of Solicitation”) barred bishops from reporting abuse to police. The document describes how church authorities should deal procedurally with cases of abuse of children by priests, cases where sex is solicited in the confessional and cases of homosexuality and bestiality.
The lawyer behind the Kentucky case, William McMurry, is calling the document was “a smoking gun”.
“It’s evidence of a ‘written’ policy that demands no mention be made by a bishop of priest sex abuse,” he told the AP. “Since our case, and no other, is about holding the Vatican accountable for the bishops’ failure to report to civil authorities, any policy that gags the bishop is relevant and material.”
However, as Lena points out, the confidentiality imposed by Crimen Sollicitationis does not trump civil law, was applied only in formal canonical processes and could be suspended by bishops if there was a conflict with reporting laws.
The Kentucky case is also alleging that the Vatican should be held responsible for the behaviour of its bishops, but Vatican lawyers plan to argue that bishops are not paid by Rome and therefore are not technically its responsibility.
Lena confirms that bishops are not controlled on a day-to-day basis by the Holy See, nor did they act on Rome’s behalf. Their relationship with the Vatican is “religious” rather than “civil” so they are not liable under normal employment laws.
The result of this case will have ramifications for similar cases currently in process, including one recently filed in Wisconsin and another in Oregon which is pending before the Supreme Court.
The Vatican plans to block the demands of victims’ lawyers that Pope Benedict XVI himself should be called to appear in court. The Vatican dismissed these attempts as “completely without merit” because as the head of a sovereign state the pontiff enjoys immunity from prosecution.
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