Victims raise legal questions about retired pope
Source: AP-Excite
By RACHEL ZOLL
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Attorneys who have tried unsuccessfully for years to sue the Vatican over failures to stop clergy sex abuse are looking into whether former Pope Benedict XVI is more legally vulnerable in retirement, especially if he travels beyond the Vatican walls.
A U.S. lawyer for the Vatican argues that, like any former head of state, Benedict retains legal immunity regardless of whether he is in or out of office. But advocates for victims say immunity in this case should be tested, since modern-day courts have never before dealt with an emeritus pope.
"So much of this is unprecedented," said Pamela Spees, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, which is pressing the International Criminal Court to investigate the Vatican's response to abusive priests as a crime against humanity. "There's nothing set in stone about it."
Benedict stepped down last week, becoming the first pontiff in six centuries to do so. Before he became head of the Roman Catholic Church in 2005, he spent more than two decades in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that over the years gained authority to oversee abuse claims against clergy worldwide.
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Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130305/DA4R55802.html
In this Tuesday, May 11, 2010 file photo, Pope Benedict XVI, center, is saluted by military guards upon his arrival at Portela Airport in Lisbon at the start of a four day visit to Portugal. Attorneys who have tried unsuccessfully for years to sue the Vatican over failures to stop clergy sex abuse are looking into whether former Pope Benedict XVI, who stepped down on Feb. 28, 2013, is more legally vulnerable in retirement, especially when he travels beyond the Vatican walls. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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