Could International Criminal Court case work in Vatican's favor?

September 23, 2011

Most international-law experts agree that sex-abuse victims will fail in their effort to bring charges against the Vatican at the International Criminal Court. But John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter has an unusual perspective on the story.

The Vatican has made a persuasive case against the notion that the ultimate responsibility for clerical abuse lies in Rome, Allen notes. But many people are not persuaded. If a court of law took up the case (thereby showing that it had no special preference for the Vatican), and weighed the arguments, the result might not only clear the Vatican of legal charges but also convince the skeptics.

 

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Further information:

• A blessing for the Vatican in (really) deep disguise (National Catholic Reporter)