01/11/06
Should anyone be
above the law? It would seem the Pope
would like to be, and the US federal government (specifically the Bush
Administration), is trying to help them towards this goal. An article at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9409047&&CM=EmailThis&CE=1
reads:
“Pope should be
immune from lawsuit, U.S. says
The U.S. government said Pope Benedict XVI should be given immunity
from a lawsuit accusing him of conspiring to cover up the sexual
molestation of three boys by a seminarian.”
ROME - The U.S.
government has told a Texas court that Pope Benedict XVI should be given
immunity from a lawsuit accusing him of conspiring to cover up the sexual
molestation of three boys by a seminarian, court documents show.
Assistant
U.S. Attorney General Peter Keisler said in Monday’s filing that as pope,
Benedict enjoys immunity as the head of a state — the Vatican. He said allowing
the lawsuit to proceed would be “incompatible with the United States’ foreign
policy interests.”
There
was no immediate ruling from Judge Lee Rosenthal of U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of Texas in Houston, who has been presiding over the case.
However, the Supreme Court has held that U.S. courts are bound by such
“suggestion of immunity” motions submitted by the government, Keisler’s filing
says…”