Vatican entitled to foreign immunity, judge rules

A judge in Kentucky has ruled that the Holy See is a foreign state that enjoys certain immunity protections, in an action by three men who claim the Vatican covered up the sexual abuse of children by priests.

Judge John Heyburn of the US District Court in Louisville rejected the victims’ argument that the Holy See was an international religious organisation and ruled that it was a foreign state subject to provisions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

The 1976 act restricts when foreign states can be sued in American courts, although it provides exceptions, such as when the states engage in commercial or certain harmful activities in the US.

The act also requires that service of a lawsuit follow strict protocols. In this case, it required documents to be translated into Latin and served to the Vatican foreign minister, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo.

In his ruling, Heyburn said the suit had actually been sent to Lajolo’s boss, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and that ”strict compliance” with the act was necessary.

“That compliance is admittedly difficult and is made moreso by the absence of any accomodation from the Holy See,” Heyburn wrote.

But because the victims made “good faith efforts”, the judge gave them 60 days to properly serve Lajolo with the documents.

William McMurry, lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he was encouraged that Heyburn had not dismissed the suit outright, and had only found a technical problem with the way the papers were served.

“We have 60 days to correct a technical error, after which we can get to the merit of the case, and ultimately a court will determine that the Vatican can be held accountable in American courts for the sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests in this country,” he said.

McMurry filed the suit last year on behalf of three men who say they were abused as far back as 1928. The lawsuit alleges a cover-up by the Vatican to protect priests who molested American children.