Vatican lawyer downplays ruling in child sex abuse case

Published: 2006-06-16

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- A federal judge's ruling that the Vatican may not have immunity in a clergy child sex abuse lawsuit is far from a major victory for the plaintiff, said the Vatican's lawyer in the case. The ruling in Portland by U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman is significant but hardly the "titanic victory" some reports have claimed it to be, said Jeffrey Lena, who represents the Vatican. The Vatican has appealed the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. What Mosman's ruling means is that the civil suit has not been entirely dismissed during this early stage of the case when even facts of jurisdiction have not been determined, Lena told the Catholic Sentinel, newspaper of the Portland Archdiocese, in a June 14 telephone interview. "The plaintiffs want to take the Holy See on a 10-mile canoe ride down the river and they are claiming a 'titanic victory' because they've just pushed off from shore," said Lena, based in Berkeley, Calif.

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