A Stitch in Haste

Back in April I sarcastically asked whether Pope Benedict XVI should be indicted for conspiracy over his alleged role in cover-ups concerning the Catholic Church's various boy-rape scandals.

Well there actually is, for now, a civil lawsuit against the Pope:

A U.S. lawyer said on Wednesday he will press ahead with a lawsuit alleging Pope Benedict conspired to cover up the abuse of three boys by a seminary student in Texas, despite the Pontiff's request for diplomatic immunity.

"This diplomatic move has stopped the suit right in its early stages," Daniel Shea, who represents one of three plaintiffs in the unprecedented civil suit, told Reuters.

"But there are various avenues we can go down depending on what the (U.S.) State Department does next," he said, adding that he hoped to take a deposition from the Pope as early as the end of this year.

Of course the Pope is immune from liability as a head of state. But there are other avenues available to the plaintiffs, namely suing the Vatican itself and seizing its assets here in the U.S. to satisfy any awards against American priests and dioceses.

It would also not be outrageous to consider declaring the Pope persona non grata in response to his invocation of diplomatic immunity (not that he has any plans to travel here anyway).

There are still far too many senior Catholic officials in the Vatican and the U.S. who seem to think this is all some kind of joke, even after a billion dollars of judgments and settlements.

Perhaps U.S. Marshals seizing some cathedrals, or the State Department denying entry to a cardinal or two, might garner their attention.

Or perhaps the boy-rape will just continue unabated.