March 10, 2005

National Catholic Reporter has a roundup of pending actions in U.S. courts against the Holy See of Rome (including a racketeering case). During Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's recent European trip, she was approached by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano urging that the U.S. government intervene in a pending class-action lawsuit in Louisville, Ky. which seeks to hold the Vatican financially liable for clerical sex abuse in this country. "At least two dozen previous attempts have gone nowhere, not only because the Vatican is a sovereign state, but also because American courts are generally reluctant to deal with religious matters on First Amendment grounds. Yet Sodano's decision to raise the matter with Rice suggests concern in Rome that sooner or later its immunity may give way, exposing the Vatican to potentially crippling verdicts."