TX "judge" --- 'can't sue Pope' ---- guess Pope IS God on earth?

[SushiFan]

Twisted red state logic says you can't sue il(l) Papa as Vatican head of state, but it's obviously OK for the Bushies to arrest and prosecute Saddam, Noriega and be ready at a moments notice to shove it at any other head of state they deem fit, like Kim, Chavez, maybe even Chirac or the Canadian pm. PLEASE!




Pope Gets Immunity From Sex Abuse Cover-Up Lawsuit
Benedict XVI Named in Case Involving Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
VATICAN CITY (Dec. 22) -
A federal judge in Texas ruled Thursday that Pope Benedict XVI enjoys immunity as a head of state and removed him from a civil lawsuit accusing him of conspiracy to cover up the sexual abuse of minors by a seminarian.

According to a copy of the ruling obtained by The Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal cited a motion filed by the U.S. Justice Department in which the government said that allowing the suit to proceed would be "incompatible with the United States' foreign policy interests. After a suggestion of immunity is filed, it is the court's duty to surrender jurisdiction," Rosenthal wrote in the ruling from U.S. District Court in Houston.

Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict's former name - is named as a defendant in the civil lawsuit, accused of conspiring with the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and some of its officials to cover up the abuse of three boys during the mid-1990s. The suit is seeking unspecified monetary damages.

The three boys, identified in court documents as John Does I, II and III, allege that a Colombian-born seminarian on assignment at St. Francis de Sales church in Houston, Juan Carlos Patino-Arango, molested them during counseling sessions in the church in the mid-1990s. Patino-Arango has been indicted in a criminal case by a Harris County, Texas, grand jury and is a fugitive from justice, the lawsuit says.

The lawyer for one of the alleged victims, Daniel Shea, argued in the lawsuit that a May 18, 2001, letter Ratzinger wrote to bishops around the world was evidence that he was involved in a conspiracy to hide Patino-Arango's crimes and to help him escape prosecution. The letter, written when Ratzinger was still prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, explains that "grave" crimes such as the sexual abuse of minors would be handled by his congregation and that the proceedings of special church tribunals handling the cases were subject to "pontifical secret."

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051222163709990016&ncid=NWS00010000000001

[Demockery101]

1. "and people worship a god that the vatican doesn't really believe in/

cause they rather worship money and the physical demons/i execute em for treason/without biblical reasons with out alaby/ cause my place in history is the book of malachy...motha fuckas, the angels of death are here, you fake motha fucka, turn your cities to salt nigga, you ain shit, your peoples aint shit, your children aint shit, they'll all be dead tomorrow fake motha fuckas"-Immortal Technique

[Skidmore]

2. Destroy my world, will ya?!? I thought * was god on earth.

Who knew?

[SushiFan]

3. I guess the 'esteemed' freep TX judge knew!!

Does that p.o.s.'s opinion count??


(no!)

[A Simple Game]

7. Your partially right.

* is the Protestant God.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. The Pope is the head of a religious corporation, not a sovereign state.

He's no different than Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, James Dobson, or Joel Osteen.

If an American corporation is legally a "person", then the Pope and the Vatican are also persons. Appeal the ruling and sue'em.

[SixStrings]

5. Why any immunity based on social status?

Not one dam person should 'enjoy' immunity from prosecution for anything. When did this become acceptable? As a 'head of state' you therefore have more responsibilties, thus you're potential for wrong-doing is increased and ultimately amplified BECAUSE of your 'Head of State' status.
Ridiculous.

[mainegreen]

6. As a judge making a strict ruling based on law, the judge is right.

And since that's all a judge should do, this is not suprising.

[Tarc]

8. I'd have to agree