US says Pope immune from cover-up lawsuit

The US government has told a Texas court that Pope Benedict XVI should be given immunity from a lawsuit accusing him of conspiring to cover up the sexual molestation of three boys by a seminarian, court documents show.

Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler said in yesterday’s filing that, as Pope, Benedict enjoys immunity as the head of a state – the Vatican.

He said that allowing the lawsuit to proceed would be “incompatible with the United States’ foreign policy interests".