Could the Vatican Go to Court for Human-Rights Abuses?

[hue]

I hope that this will truly happen soon.

"When a group of victims of pedophile priests announced on Sept. 13 that they would ask the International Criminal Court (ICC) to try the Pope on charges of crimes against humanity, the Vatican was quick to dismiss the petition as a "ludicrous publicity stunt." After all, prosecutors would have to prove that Pope Benedict XVI, in allegedly neglecting to address pervasive sex abuse in the Catholic Church, belongs in the company of Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic, Liberia's Charles Taylor and the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide.

And yet, while few experts give the case much of a chance of success — or even believe it will make it before the judge — the fact that it's even up for discussion is testament to the success that victims groups have had in bringing their cause against the church before the law. "This is a further escalation of cases that have been going on for some time," says Jo-Renee Formicola, a professor of political science at New Jersey's Seton Hall University, who studies the Vatican's legal travails. "If decides to hear this case, it sets a new bar. And even if it doesn't, it's an important move forward in raising awareness. If the church is put in a position where it has to defend itself, in the court of law or the court of public opinion, it's going to be quite significant."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2093771,00.html#ixzz1YW6VX3Vb

[Angry Dragon]

1. The only trouble with that is that the Pope will declare that

he is the leader of a sovereign nation state and can not be tried

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. Major jurisdictional issues, doubtful this will go forward

[hue]

3. there is some hope...

" In 2010, Anderson won a major victory when the U.S. Supreme Court gave the green light to a case that seeks to hold the Vatican financially responsible for the abuse carried out by pedophile priests. In effect, the court rejected the Holy See's claim to immunity as a foreign state. The case, which had initially been seen as a publicity stunt, is now in discovery."
There is some question as to whether Vatican City is another country or a sovereign state. Wiki addresses this issue/conflict.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2093771,00.html#ixzz1YWLw9Yst

[MADem]

4. "The Vatican" isn't a person.

It's also a sovereign state.

You'd have to prove that Vatican leadership not just knew/mitigated, but endorsed, directed, encouraged the behavior.

I think it would be a tough sell.

That is not to suggest that I find the behavior of these dispicable child abusers remotely acceptable; I just don't think it will happen.

[hue]

5. True, the Vatican is more like a corporation...

and there is much documentation that shows the Vatican, including Pope Benedict knew of clergy abuse of children. The legal barriers are slowly being chipped away by public exposre and several groups committed to making the Catholic church responsible for its systematic enabling of its staff to ruin the lives of so many innocent children.
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Hague court asked to prosecute Pope over sex abuse
IANS Sep 14, 2011, 10.27am IST
Tags:

Sex abuse|
Prosecute Pope Benedict XVI

THE HAGUE: Two groups have jointly asked the International Criminal Court at The Hague to investigate and prosecute Pope Benedict XVI and three top Vatican officials for "concealing of rape and child sex crimes throughout the world".

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and lawyers from human rights group the Center for Constitutional Rights have submitted to the court an 80-page complaint and more than 20,000 pages of supporting material to back up their case, the groups said Tuesday.

"Crimes against thousands of victims, most of them children, are being covered up by officials at the highest level of the Vatican. In this case, all roads really do lead to Rome," said attorney Pam Spees in a statement.