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Charles J. Chaput: Suing the Church

By Alliance Alert

Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. writing at First Things | On The Square: "In O?Bryan v. Holy See, currently being heard in the U.S. district court in Kentucky, plaintiffs' attorneys are seeking to depose Vatican officials?including, potentially, the pope himself?to determine what they allegedly ignored or covered up about the handling of clergy sex-abuse cases by American bishops. The plaintiffs' legal argument hinges on the premise that bishops are, in effect, Roman-controlled employees or officials. That argument is not merely false in practice. It is also revolutionary in consequence. In effect, it would redefine the nature of the Church in a manner favorable to plaintiffs' attorneys but alien to her actual structure and identity. To put it another way, plaintiffs' attorneys want a federal court to tell the Church what she really is, whether she agrees or not, and then to penalize her for being what she isn't."

Full post as published by Constitutionally Correct on May 26, 2010 (boomark / email).