AFP
 
WASHINGTON, Mar 5: Lawyers for a man who alleged he was sexually abused 40 years ago as a teenager by a Roman Catholic priest lauded a US appeals court  decision that paves the way for abuse victims to sue the Vatican.

"Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Portland, Oregon, issued a decision that opens the door to survivors (of the sex abuse scandal in the US Catholic church) to sue the Vatican for its role in the cover-up of priests and molestations by them," Jeff Anderson, a lawyer for the plaintiff, said.

The case was originally brought seven years ago on behalf of a plaintiff named only as John Doe, who alleged that he was sexually molested on several occasions when he was 15 or 16 by Roman Catholic priest Father Andrew Ronan.

Before he was transferred to Portland, Ronan had been moved out of two previous parishes -- in Ireland and US -- after he admitted to sexually molesting young boys.

When the case finally came to court last year, the Holy See claimed immunity under a US law that grants immunity before US courts to foreign states, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).

The ruling was "a major breakthrough in the sense that the problem emanates from the top," Anderson said yesterday, adding that he expects the Vatican to ask for a review of the ruling or go to the US Supreme Court.