Wisconsin Sex Abuse Victim Sues Benedict

Claims then-cardinal knew of abuse, did not act
By Emily Rauhala,  Newser Staff
Suggested by Disillusioned
Posted Apr 23, 2010 5:41 AM CDT
Wisconsin Sex Abuse Victim Sues Benedict
The Pope has vowed to take action on the clerical sex abuse scandal.   (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

After years of the Vatican ignoring his claims of sexual abuse, an American man is suing the pope himself. The suit, filed in a US Federal Court, does not ask for money, but demands that the Vatican "come clean" by disclosing all files related to cases of child abuse. The man says he was one of hundreds of children allegedly assaulted by Father Lawrence Murphy during his 20-year tenure at a Milwaukee school for the deaf. In a 1995 letter to Murphy, the man wrote, "Do you know that you have really ruined my life?

The plaintiff says he wrote several letters to church authorities, but never heard back. "All trails and responsibility for that leads to one place, to the Vatican, to the pontiff," his lawyer tells the BBC. Earlier this month, the Vatican newspaper said media reports that the pope had protected Father Murphy were 'ignoble.' The Vatican has not responded to the suit.
(More Catholic Church stories.)

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