Local Attorney's Lawsuit Against Vatican Has Another Hurdle To Clear

Louisville, Kentucky --

A Louisville attorney and the Vatican are at odds the over Catholic sex abuse crisis. Late Monday afternoon Bill McMurry filed his response to the Vatican. The church wants the court to drop his class action lawsuit. WAVE 3's David McArthur investigates.

Abused in the parish, covered up in the diocese, but linked to one ultimate authority -- that's the case attorney Bill McMurry wants to argue in U.S. Federal Court against the Vatican.

"I think the Vatican was well aware of Father Louis Miller's pedophilia," McMurray, said, and he believes it is ultimately responsible for the actions of Father Miller and all abusive priests.

McMurray filed the lawsuit in June 5th, and since then attorneys for the Catholic church have argued that the case is flawed, saying the Vatican is a sovereign nation, and that the lawsuit was not properly filed.

Vatican officials have also raised questions about the translation of the lawsuit into Latin, but McMurry says the message is clear. "We are convinced the condition in this country, the pervasive child sexual abuse problem within the Roman Catholic Church, came about as a result of the directive of the Pope to U.S. Bishops to keep this contained."

Read the article at WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY Dated August 1, 2005

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