Washington wants Pope to be given immunity in abuse case

[arcos]

Washington wants Pope to be given immunity in abuse case

THE United States government has said that Pope Benedict should be given immunity from a civil court action in Texas, which accuses the pontiff of conspiring to cover up the sexual molestation of three boys by a seminarian.

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The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was named as a defendant in the civil prosecution by three boys who allege that Juan Carlos Patino-Arango, a Colombian-born seminarian on assignment at St Francis de Sales church in Houston, molested them during counselling sessions in the church in the mid-1990s.

Mr Patino-Arango has been indicted in a criminal case by a grand jury in Texas and is a fugitive from justice.

Court documents allege that the Pope, who previously headed the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was involved in a conspiracy to hide Mr Patino-Arango's crimes and to help the Colombian escape prosecution.

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http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1970282005

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1. duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1793420