Can You Sue the Vatican?

The obedience that American Bishops have given the Catholic Church has been fairly tenuous to downright rebellious historically speaking.

Catholic and Pro-life Judge Andrew Napolitano doesn't think it's a meritorious case, either.

[Fox News]The sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has triggered an interesting legal question: can you put the Vatican on trial in the United States?

Lawyers for victims in Louisville, Kentucky are trying to do just that. But the Vatican is shooting right back, filing defense motions today arguing that bishops based in the U.S. – who have direct responsibility for their priests – are not “employees” of the Vatican.

I spoke Judge Andrew Napolitano, Senior Judicial Analyst for Fox News Channel, and he told me there’s no evidence that American bishops are agents of the Vatican with respect to personnel matters.

Archbishop Burke Criticizes Media Influence

How striking that he says that there must be "ecclesiastical punishments". These should be far more fearful to the Catholic than the tender mercies even of Sha'ria law and the dreaded wall of hooks or some other unthinkable device of pre-modern justice.

The Prefect of the highest Vatican Court of Appeals, Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, has complained about the negative influence of the public in the revelation of abuse cases.

In earlier cases in the USA, a strong interaction between the media and attorneys intensified and an "objective judgement became difficult to discern between the situation and the individual cases themselves.", said the US Church Justice in Rome for Journalists on Thursday afternoon.

The sexual abuse by clerics have caused a deep wound to the "smallest and most defensive members" of the Catholic Church. An exact and comprehensive recondition of the abuse cases must include ecclesiastical punishments, so said the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura.

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Bishop Fellay says, aggrement not possible "humanly" speaking

There is much talk about standing up to the modernist juggernaut, let's pray that these talks produce divine results. Rorate Caeli, here, reports on the recent statement of Bishop Fellay regarding the talks, They are sobering, also comments on ars orandi.

There is more at DICI (English), here.

For us, we must really see this opportunity for the discussions with Rome as truly a disposition of Divine Providence, as truly an amazing grace to be able to present to the highest authorities in the Church what that Church has always said and which, thanks be to God, we have kept; thus, to make it resound at the very top of the Church. To bear witness to the Faith is a great grace. And even at Rome, a certain number [of prelates] are expecting from these discussions—and it’s a direct quote— “very much good for the Church"...

...We cannot say that the pope has only to do this or that. It is every member of the Church who must, once again, at his place, according to his powers, according to the grace of the good Lord, do everything he can for the Church’s restoration. Everybody must contribute his efforts—everybody. So let us make this effort precisely by our prayers, by our sacrifices, by all the means that truly give life to the Church. The means that the good Lord commonly uses to restore and uplift the Church is called holiness.

Vatican Removes Death Penalty from the books

Vatican Removes Death Penalty

A revamped Vatican constitution coming out next month officially takes the death penalty off the Holy See's books.
Pope Paul VI abolished the death penalty within the walls of the Vatican in the 1960s. However, capital punishment remained in the text of the constitution, which dates to the 1929 creation of the modern Vatican city-state, a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said on Friday.
Under the modern state, ``It was never put into effect,'' Benedettini said.
The revised constitution is the first since 1929, and removes anachronisms like the death penalty from the code, Benedettini said.
``After so many years, something must be reviewed,'' he said. ``Being such a small state, we don't need to do it very often.''
The revised constitution takes effect on 22 February.
While the Vatican under Pope John Paul II is strongly anti-death penalty, Vatican use of the death penalty persisted into the 19th century, with hangings under Pope Pius IX.

AP

29-Jan-01


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Vietnam and Vatican discuss Diplomatic Ties

(February 20, 2009) The Holy See and Vietnam have laid a “good basis” for establishing diplomatic relations during annual meetings this week, although no target has been set, a Vatican envoy said on Thursday. The meeting was held in a “very frank and open atmosphere,” Monsignor Pietro Parolin, the Vatican under-secretary for Relation with States told reporters after meeting with Nguyen The Doanh, head of Vietnam's religious affairs commission. Tensions have existed between the Vietnamese government and religious organizations for years. Communist authorities closely monitor religious groups and insist on approving most church appointments. But recently, relations between Hanoi and the Holy See have begun to thaw. Talks between the government and Vatican have been held since 1990, but the latest round marked the first meeting of a working group studying the renewal of diplomatic ties. “We have already set up good basis for further progress,” Msgr. Parolin said, adding that it was impossible to say how long the process would take. “The outcome will be diplomatic relations,” he added. He also told reporters he hoped the Pope might come to Vietnam this year, although no plans had been made for a visit. The working group held its first sessions on Monday and Tuesday, when Msgr. Parolin met Vice Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Cuong. Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said this week's meeting was an “important step” in the development of relations between Vietnam and the Vatican. Msgr. Parolin's delegation is scheduled to visit two dioceses in northern Vietnam later this week before returning to Rome on Sunday. Vietnam has one of Asia's largest Catholic populations, with more than 6 million followers.


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Link to related story about Vietnamese government oppressing Catholics, as usual.

The Holy See's Diplomatic Net. Latest Acquisition: Russia

Over half a century, the pope's ambassadors in the world have doubled. Bilateral diplomatic relations have tripled. Failing to answer the summons are China, Saudi Arabia, and a few other states. The double game of Vietnam: while it is negotiating with the Vatican, it is assailing Catholics

by Sandro Magister



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Vatican denounces European ruling against crucifixes in schools

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican said it experienced “surprise and sorrow” when a European court ruled that the crucifixes hanging in Italian public schools violate religious freedom.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled Nov. 3 that the crucifixes hanging in every public classroom in Italy were “a violation of the freedom of parents to educate their children according to their own convictions and of the religious freedom of the students.”

Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, reacted to the decision saying, “The crucifix has always been a sign of God's offer of love and a sign of union and welcome for all humanity. It is sad that it is being considered a sign of division, exclusion or limitation of freedom. That is not what it is and that is not the common feeling of our people.”

In his statement Nov. 3, Father Lombardi said, “It also is surprising that a European court is intervening so heavily in a matter that is deeply tied to the historic, cultural and spiritual identity of the Italian people.”

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The case in question bears all the hallmarks of ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) style legal activism which is pointed to by the plaintif's suspicious Finnish heritage and the tactics employed. Finnland has a long tradition of Communism and thanks to just government persecution of Communists there, many Finns have spread to other parts of the world bringing their poisonous political beliefs with them.

More here...