Vatican Remains Committed to Justice for Sex Abuse Victims

(10 Aug 10 – RV) “Justice for victims of sexual abuse and the protection of minors remain our primary objective”. This is how Vatican Press Office Director, Fr Federico Lombardi, welcomed the news that a lawsuit brought against the Holy See by three men sexually abused by priests in Kentucky has been abandoned by the plaintiffs.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said earlier court rulings recognizing the sovereign immunity of the Holy See played a role in the decision, as well as the fact that most sexual abuse victims have already sought compensation from their dioceses.

The case is unrelated to another lawsuit filed against the Holy See in Oregon.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the Holy See in the Oregon lawsuit, and it is still working its way through the US court system.

The US lawyer for the Holy See, Jeffrey Lena, said the abandonment of the Kentucky case shows there has never been a Holy See policy requiring concealment of child sexual abuse.

He also said that the fact the case against the Holy See always lacked merit does not mean that the plaintiffs themselves did not suffer as a result of sexual abuse, but bringing this case only distracted from the important goal of protecting children from harm.

Greeting the news Tuesday, Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi also said that the positive out come should not in anyway minimise the Holy See’s horror and condemnation of sexual abuse or compassion for the victims suffering.

However he added “it is good news that a case that has lasted six years on the alleged involvement of the Holy See in concealing abuse and which has also had strong negative effects on public opinion, has ultimately been proven[…] unfounded”. Hear more: