US lawyer wants court to question Pope over child sex scandal; claims Benedict knew of abuse cases

The motion claims Pope Benedict knew about the sex abuse by priests in the United States and that he "discouraged prosecution of accused clergy and encouraged secrecy to protect the reputation of the Church" in the 24 years that he led the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.

"That organization was responsible for screening these cases dealing with complaints by US bishops about their various abusive priests in various dioceses," Attorney William McMurry told AFP.

According to the motion, documents released last week by the New York Times "unequivocally link Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, to child sexual abuse cases in the United States.

"These documents directly implicate Pope Benedict XVI's involvement in the Holy See's decision to cast a shroud of secrecy over clergy sexual abuse cases in the United States," the motion says.

The New York Times last week revealed several letters and other documents which showed that being the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Pope Benedict was informed of the case of a serial pedophile priest called Father Lawrence Murphy, who was accused of sexually abusing up to 200 boys at a school for the deaf in Wisconsin.

Since the documents were published, several sex abuse victims of priests and their lawyers have spoken out in support of the claim that the pope was informed about the priests who molested them, when he was head of the CDF, but did not do anything to stop the abuses.

The Associated Press reported that the Vatican has already lodged a preview of its legal defence in the Federal Court in Louisville seeking to have the suit dismissed.


[Source: AFP]