In O'Bryan v. Holy See, (WD KY, Jan. 10, 2007) [available in PACER], a Kentucky U.S. District Court issued an 18-page opinion interpreting the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) to permit certain claims relating to clergy sexual abuse in the United States to be brought against the Vatican. It held that while the Vatican is a foreign state covered by the FSIA (see prior posting), the "tort exception" to the Act permits some of plaintiffs' claims to be brought in U.S. courts. It held that to the extent that archbishops, bishops and priests acted in the United States as officials or employees of the Vatican pursuant to Holy See policy, they were acting within the scope of their employment. The Vatican can thus be liable for clergy's failure to warn parishioners that their children would be under the care of known or suspected pedophiles, and for failing to report known or suspected abusers to state and local authorities. However the court left open the possibility that future evidence might show that the Holy See does not exert sufficient control over clergy to make them officials or employees of the Vatican.
Yesterday's Louisville Courier-Journal reporting on the decision quoted plaintiffs' attorney William McMurry who said that the lawsuit could lead to attorneys taking depositions of Vatican officials, obtaining copies of church documents and ultimately determining "what prompted all of the bishops to keep quiet, hide these pedophiles and refuse to report child abusers.".
