OREGON – A US federal appeals court ruling has ruled that an Oregon man may sue the Vatican for sexual abuse he says he suffered from a Catholic priest.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the man – who says he was molested in the 1960s by an Irish priest at a Catholic school – could pursue a civil suit against the Holy See because the priest allegedly abused him while serving in a religious capacity.
According to victims’ lawyers, the late Rev Andrew Ronan, a Servite priest, had been sent to Chicago and then to Portland, Oregon, after being accused of molesting children in Ireland. He died in 1992.
Lawyers for the plaintiff hailed the ruling as a watershed for victims of clergy abuse, who for decades have wanted to hold the Catholic hierarchy accountable for protecting priests.
“They have been choosing for years . . . to protect the clerics and not the kids,” said Jeff Anderson, a Minneapolis lawyer representing the Oregon man.
Jeffrey Lena, a California lawyer who represented the Vatican, said the ruling favoured the Vatican by recognising that every action everywhere could not be traced directly to Rome.
Some legal scholars say the ruling is not the last word and expect it to be overturned by the Supreme Court. – ( Los Angeles Times/Washington Postservice)