Pope immune from abuse lawsuit

2005-09-20 13:44

Pope Benedict XVI waves to faithful during the Angelus prayer from the window of his Castel Gandolfo summer palace, on the outskirts of Rome. (Plinio Lepri, AP)

Rome - The United States government has told a Texas court that Pope Benedict XVI should be given immunity from a lawsuit accusing him of conspiring to cover up the sexual molestation of three boys by a seminarian, court documents show.

Assistant attorney general Peter Keisler said in Monday's filing that, as pope, Benedict enjoys immunity as the head of a state - the Vatican. He said allowing the lawsuit to proceed would be "incompatible with the United States' foreign policy interests".

- AP