Andrew Ronan

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - A lawyer representing a victim of priest abuse in a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic church said on Monday Vatican documents show the church hierarchy and the pope were ultimately responsible.

The Vatican on Wednesday took the unprecedented decision to release confidential files about an abuse case in the United States in an attempt to defend itself against accusations of a cover-up.

Lawyers in Oregon case seek to question top Vatican officials about priests, sexual abuse. Lawyers for a man who wants to hold the Vatican accountable for the priest who molested him in the 1960s asked a federal judge Wednesday to allow them to question top cardinals.

Lawsuit claims church protected abusive Salesian priest with transfers to 3 continents. A California man who alleges he was abused in the 1960s by a priest who belonged to the Salesian order of the Roman Catholic church filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the order and the Vatican, claiming officials covered for the cleric by shuffling him between three continents over three decades.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican, struggling to control the damage to its image from a sexual abuse scandal, said Tuesday it would prove it cannot be held legally responsible for a predatory priest in a pivotal U.S. lawsuit.

Sex abuse lawsuit against Vatican moves forward; Supreme Court won't hear Vatican appeal. A lawsuit against the Vatican that had been dismissed as a publicity stunt moved forward when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the Holy See. Monday's development represents a significant advance for what many believed to be a long-shot claim that the Vatican bears legal responsibility for molester priests.

The US Supreme Court declined Monday to hear an appeal by the Vatican for immunity in a high-profile pedophilia case, dealing a setback to The Holy See as it tries to protect itself from a litany of sex abuse cases.

The US Supreme Court declined Monday to hear an appeal by the Vatican in a landmark case that opens the way for the Catholic Church in the United States to be sued for a litany of child sex abuse cases.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Monday to consider whether the Vatican has legal immunity over the sexual abuse of minors by priests in the United States, allowing a lawsuit filed in 2002 to go forward.

Minn. attorney who found documents implicating pope in abuse scandal has long pursued Vatican. Jeff Anderson has filed thousands of lawsuits alleging sex abuse by priests and won tens of millions of dollars for his clients, but he has had a bigger goal in mind for nearly two decades. He wants to bring his career-long legal crusade against misconduct in the Roman Catholic Church right to the top.

Minn. attorney who found documents implicating pope in abuse scandal has long pursued Vatican. Jeff Anderson has filed thousands of lawsuits alleging sex abuse by priests and won tens of millions of dollars for his clients, but he has had a bigger goal in mind for nearly two decades. He wants to bring his career-long legal crusade against misconduct in the Roman Catholic Church right to the top.