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Dismissing a 10-year-old attempt to hold the Holy See liable for sexual abuse, a federal judge in the United States has ruled that a priest accused of molestation was not employed by the Vatican.
The ruling in an Oregon courtroom came in a lawsuit filed by a man who alleged the late Father Andrew Ronan, a Servite priest, repeatedly molested him in the 1960s.
Judge Michael Mosman said there was insufficient evidence to prove a true employment relationship between Ronan and the Holy See, or that the Vatican has both direct and operational control over Catholic priests in the US.
While a priest clearly functions under obligations and rules set by the Holy See, he said the relationship is not that of employee-employer. He compared the situation to that of attorneys and the state bar association, which sets rules for practising law, but does not actually employ all the state’s attorneys.
The judge said that if he accepted the plaintiff’s argument that the Vatican maintains absolute control over all priests, and is therefore their employer, then all Catholics everywhere could similarly be considered employees of the Holy See.
The Vatican’s California-based attorney, Jeffrey Lena, said the court had at its disposal all of the materials the Holy See could provide about Ronan and his assignments.
“The court examined those documents and the outcome was that there was no evidence that the Holy See was the employer of Ronan, or that it transferred Ronan, or that it knew of the abuse in question until after the abuse had taken place in 1965,” Lena said. He said the Holy See only learned of the abuse in 1966, after which Ronan was quickly laicised.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Jeff Anderson, said he would appeal.
“We believe that under further scrutiny, the courts will find that Vatican protocols and practice make it clear that obedience to Rome required the secrecy and concealment practised by priests and bishops as the clergy abuse crisis unfolded in the United States,” Anderson said.
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Image: USA Today
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