U.S. Says Pope Immune From Sex Abuse Suits

[buffalo]

U.S. Says Pope Immune From Sex Abuse Suits

ROME – The U.S. government has told a Texas court that Pope Benedict XVI should be given immunity from a lawsuit accusing him of conspiring to cover up the sexual molestation of three boys by a seminarian, court documents show.

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Peter Keisler said in Monday’s filing that, as pope, Benedict enjoys immunity as the head of a state _ the Vatican. He said that allowing the lawsuit to proceed would be “incompatible with the United States’ foreign policy interests.”

There was no immediate ruling from Judge Lee Rosenthal of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston, who has been presiding over the case. However, the Supreme Court has held that U.S. courts are bound by such “suggestion of immunity” motions submitted by the government, Keisler’s filing says.

more…

 

[TPJCatholic]

Every time that I think I cannot be shocked by attacks on the Church, another more debased account come along.

Incredible.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

TPJCatholic:

Every time that I think I cannot be shocked by attacks on the Church, another more debased account come along.

Incredible.

“Shocking” is too mild a word - the Pope is, in doctrine and canon law, supreme head of the Church on earth, and the head of all Catholics. His authority is not a power of inspection only - it goes beyond that, as Vatican I was careful to insist. He is the immediate head of all Catholics.​

Therefore, it is up to the Pope to take responsibility for the reputed crimes and misdemeanours of the clergy whose superior he is. And to attempt to have the authority, without having the responsibilities that go with it, such as ensuring that the clergy behave like passably decent human beings rather than as evaders of the law, is shocking, amoral, and disgraceful; and plays into the hands of those who are already cynical about the good faith of the Churc or the Papacy or the Vatican.

True pastors don’t get other powers, civil or ecclesiastical, to cover their moral nakedness - they take responsibility for what their subordinates are accused of doing, and don’t look for ways of escaping their responsibilities. If the Bible makes one thing clear, it is that to have power, means having responsibility. Not one single Christian can escape from this, however humble or high - and the sooner the Popes realise this, the better, if only for their own good.

If he doesn’t want to be responsible for what priests hundreds of miles from Rome get up to, then he should have the decency (OK, so that’s not something found in large supply at Rome; it’s been a sink of depravity ever since Tacitus noted that all the ills of the world congregate there, and fester) to forego his claims of immediate jurisdiction over them, and be content to be superior to them as the superior of their superiors. He can’t have it both ways - to want incompatible things, such as power without responsibility, is what distinguishes the infant from the adult. To have power without responsibility, is analogous to having a one-night stand; or to enjoying sexual activity without the bother of the commitments which come from being married to the person one is enjoying it with. ##

 

[Franze]

It´s impressing but well, the cross is an important element in the church, greetings

 

[snoopy]

If he did it, it could be very incriminating and bad for the church as well as for the 3 boys – obviously.

 

[CatholicCid]

He’s the Leader of the Vatican… Why would he not have immunity like any other leader…

 

[snoopy]

I’m kind of confused. Why are there dashes instead of the regular headings when you pull up this thread. Did someone flag this as a bad site?