Justice Department Urges Diplomatic Immunity For Pope

In a pending case in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the United States Department of Justice has filed a "suggestion of immunity", arguing that Pope Benedict XVI enjoys diplomatic immunity as head of state of the Vatican. According to today's Syndey Morning Herald, the filing says that allowing the lawsuit to proceed would be "incompatible with the United States' foreign policy interests". The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit by three boys who allege that a seminarian molested them during counseling sessions in the mid-1990s. The lawyer for the boys says that if the court grants diplomatic immunity, he will challenge the constitutionality of giving diplomatic recognition to the Holy See, claiming that it violates the Establishment Clause. (See prior posting.)