A federal judge in Oregon has denied a motion by attorneys for the Vatican to dismiss a civil lawsuit brought against it by a sexual abuse victim of a onetime Chicago priest. This is the first time that a lawsuit against the Vatican has proceeded this far in the U.S. courts.
The victim, known only as "John Doe" was allegedly molested as a youth in Oregon by the Rev. Andrew Ronan. Judge Michael W. Mosman said the 1976 Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, which protects foreign nations from lawsuits in U.S. courts, does not apply to the Vatican in this case because the Vatican knew the priest had a history of sexual misconduct with minors and allowed him to continue in ministry.
Ronan had been removed from ministry in Northern Ireland after a student at a seminary there accused him of sexual misconduct and left the priesthood in 1966 amid more allegations of abuse in Portland.
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