Bush administration partially sides with Vatican in sex abuse lawsuit

The Bush administration partially sided with the Vatican in a lawsuit seeking class-action damages from the Roman Catholic church and its headquarters for an alleged cover-up of priests sexually abusing children in the United States.

The U.S. Justice Department and State Department argued in a friend of the court brief that the Holy See may only be sued as a foreign country, not a religious institution, because the U.S. government recognizes it as a foreign state. U.S. law provides immunity to foreign countries from most lawsuits.

The filing to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals comes in a case brought by three men alleging the Vatican orchestrated a cover-up of U.S. priests sexually abusing children. Louisville attorney William McMurry is seeking class-action status, saying there are thousands of victims across the country.