The pope is being sued for failing to do anything about priests
who used boys under their care for sex.
A long running series of scandals in which US Catholic priests
are alleged to have had sex with young boys, only to have their
crimes covered up by the church hierarchy, has resulted in
extensive legal action, which now
targets the pope himself.
The man at the centre of this case claims he was sexually abused
by Father Lawrence Murphy, who has been accused of sexually abusing
hundreds of the boys under his care at a Milwaukee school for deaf
children in the 1970s. Murphy died in 1998, without facing any
official action from the church.
At the time, the church responded to complaints by simply moving
the priest to another diocese, without pursuing any legal action
against him or expelling him from the clergy.
Critics contend such treatment was routine, with priests caught
at it often going on to pursue their taste for pederasty in new
positions.
Complaints should have been referred to a church body then
headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI.
However, the body did nothing and claimed it only heard about the
case later.
The Vatican has called the claims that it knew about the affair
but failed to do anything “ignoble,” and denied any wrongdoing.
The man’s lawsuit, naming the pope and several cardinals, seeks
full disclosure of all such cases. He is not demanding financial
compensation.
Moral improprieties in the Catholic church, particularly
pederasty, have for over a thousand years been a major area of
criticism.
Theories as to why it is so afflicted range from the church
recruiting a disproportionately high number of homosexuals to its
priests being warped by their vows of celibacy; whatever the cause,
after persisting for so long it seems to have become an accepted
and deeply ingrained part of Catholic tradition, at least amongst
priests.