Pope Held To Have Diplomatic Immunity

The Associated Press reports that on Thursday, a federal district court in Houston, Texas held, at the urging of the U.S. Justice Department, that Pope Benedict XVI has diplomatic immunity. (See prior posting.) The issue arose in a civil lawsuit accusing the Pope of conspiracy to cover up the sexual abuse of minors by a seminarian. Judge Lee Rosenthal wrote: "After a suggestion of immunity is filed, it is the court's duty to surrender jurisdiction." The ruling found that Benedict was the "head of a foreign state, the Holy See," not merely the head of a religious entity. Previously, plaintiffs' lawyer in the case said that if the court found diplomatic immunity here, he would challenge the constitutionality of U.S. recognition of the Vatican.