BishopAccountability.org
	Local Attorney's Lawsuit against Vatican Has Another Hurdle to Clear By David McArthur WAVE [Louisville KY] August 1, 2005 A Louisville attorney and the Vatican are at odds the over Catholic sex abuse crisis. Late Monday afternoon Bill McMurry filed his response to the Vatican. The church wants the court to drop his class action lawsuit. WAVE 3's David McArthur investigates. Abused in the parish, covered up in the diocese, but linked to one ultimate authority -- that's the case attorney Bill McMurry wants to argue in U.S. Federal Court against the Vatican. "I think the Vatican was well aware of Father Louis Miller's pedophilia," McMurray, said, and he believes it is ultimately responsible for the actions of Father Miller and all abusive priests. McMurray filed the lawsuit in June 5th, and since then attorneys for the Catholic church have argued that the case is flawed, saying the Vatican is a sovereign nation, and that the lawsuit was not properly filed. Vatican officials have also raised questions about the translation of the lawsuit into Latin, but McMurry says the message is clear. "We are convinced the condition in this country, the pervasive child sexual abuse problem within the Roman Catholic Church, came about as a result of the directive of the Pope to U.S. Bishops to keep this contained." A total of 240 abuse victims shared a settlement from the Louisville Archdiocese for $25.7 million in 2003. As part of that agreement, all plaintiffs in that lawsuit released the Archdiocese from future liability -- but not the Vatican. McMurry turned his attention to top after obtaining a confidential copy of a 1962 document. In it he says the Vatican instructs all Bishops to cover up the sex abuse crisis or risk excommunication. "I think that the Archbishops that allowed Father Miller to abuse were following directives from the Vatican." McMurray's latest response defends the translation of his lawsuit, and following proper procedure, he hopes to force the Vatican into court. If the lawsuit stands up on translation and procedure, the next hurdle is the test of sovereign nations. They are often exempted from lawsuits, but McMurry will argue he is suing the Vatican as the head of the church not as a country.