(9 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
The Catholic Church and Pope Benedict XVI are in trouble. As more information comes to light about how the church, under Vatican orders, shielded priests that molested children, more lawsuits are being filed against them. In particular is a lawsuit filed in Kentucky seeking class-action status against the Vatican itself.
VATICAN CITY – Dragged deeper than ever into the clerical sex abuse scandal, the Vatican is launching a legal defense that it hopes will shield the pope from a lawsuit in Kentucky seeking to have him answer attorneys’ questions under oath.
The response by the Vatican is, to say the least, predictable:
Court documents obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press show that Vatican lawyers plan to argue that the pope has immunity as head of state, that American bishops who oversaw abusive priests weren’t employees of the Vatican, and that a 1962 document is not the “smoking gun” that provides proof of a cover-up.
But, buried in the story, is that the Vatican also plans to use the “torture” defense.
“If Pope Benedict XVI is ordered to testify by a U.S. court, foreign courts could feel empowered to order discovery against the president of the United States regarding, for example, such issues as CIA renditions,” Lena wrote in a 2008 brief.
The threat in that statement by Jeffrey Lena, architect of the Vatican’s defense, was very clear; if the United States government allows lawsuits to continue against the Vatican and Pope be prepared to have YOUR dirty secrets exposed to the world.
The problem with this threat, however, is that our dirty secrets have already been exposed. What HASN’T occurred is ACCOUNTABILITY for the crimes committed. President Obama has already stated that he will not investigate, much less prosecute, Bush officials for their role in the torture of detainees. The “dirty little secret” was out, however, years ago. If this sounds familiar to you it should.
The Vatican’s dirty little secret of protecting priest’s that molested children has been known for 40 years. In a 1962 memo that was leaked from the Vatican, it revealed that the Vatican had barred anyone from reporting the incidents to the local police. Subsequent documents showed how the Vatican simply moved priests from one parish to another when allegations of child abuse surfaced.
Once it is understood that this isn’t about revealing a crime, but, holding those at the highest office that knew and facilitated the crimes accountable, the threat takes on a whole new meaning.
Who, if not our own government, will hold President Bush or his officials accountable? The United Nations? The Hague? No. It will take another government to do so. Italy held 23 CIA agents to account for their crimes in Italy. Spain is still looking to indict Bush lawyers for their role in torture. And, in doing so, under international treaties, warrants for arrest issued in other countries mean that those convicted are forever not welcome outside of their own country.
The case against the Vatican and Pope, however, doesn’t even rise to that level. It is a civil liability case. And, instead of simply admitting to a continued mistake, the Vatican is now using not-so-veiled threats to try and halt the cases against it.
Just like George W. Bush, the Pope believes he is above any law and any accountability.
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but Im done since they disappeared “Limbo”… well I was done with them way before that, lol, but that was the last straw. LOLOL sorry….foul weird mood.
No hope.
coming back anyhow. Might as well have the Pope enter the frey. Let’s have the Pope and Obama meet secretly on a cruiser in the North Atlantic. Heavens almighty, maybe we can get them to help with our deficit in exchange for recognizing them as “above” the law.
And the CIA knows it. Case closed.