A couple of ambitious lawyers have managed to sue the Vatican itself in pursuit of the Catholic Church’s priest-abuse scandals, but it isn’t easy:
…even if a process server could get past the Swiss guards, handing the pope a copy of a lawsuit doesn’t count as service.
Because the Vatican is a foreign country, all documents must be translated into its official language.
In this case, that means Latin. And there’s still the major obstacle to get around of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which bars most suits against foreign governments. (Ashbel S. Green, “Suit reaches new heights: the Vatican”, The Oregonian, Dec. 11). See PoL Mar. 10. More on church scandals: this site Sept. 16, 2003, Jul. 11, 2004; Point of Law Aug. 10, Sept. 29, 2004; Aug. 28, Aug. 31, Sept. 1, 2005.
3 Comments
If the information in the article about lawyers trying to sue the Vatican over abuse committed by priests is correct, then couldn’t a case be made that a church is in effect an embassy or legation of the Vatican and thus subject to Vatican law?
Update: “Texas judge dismisses lawsuit against Pope”
Head-of-state immunity comes through for the Pontiff in a case alleging abuse cover-up. See Dec. 14, etc. (Catholic World News, Dec. 22). “The U.S. Department of State issued a suggestion of immunity in May, requesting…
Foreign sovereign immunity watch
“The US Supreme Court has allowed a lawsuit against the Vatican Bank to go forward, despite arguments that the suit involved foreign-policy issues that are not within the jurisdiction of American federal courts. … The suit, first filed in a…