Vatican City: The Vatican's attorney said on Friday that a lawsuit against Pope Benedict XVI over sex abuse committed by a US priest was "completely without merit”.
"While legitimate lawsuits have been filed by abuse victims, this is not one of them," Jeffrey Lena said in a statement released by the Vatican.
The action is an attempt at a "broader attack -- this one dependent on re-characterising the Catholic Church as a worldwide 'business enterprise'" carrying liability for crimes committed around the world, he charged.
The lawsuit also names at Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone and Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the College of Cardinals.
"Most of the complaint rehashes old theories already rejected by US courts," Lena said.
An alleged victim of Father Lawrence Murphy, a priest accused of molesting up to 200 boys at a school for the deaf in Wisconsin, sued the Vatican and the pope on Thursday in an attempt to open secret files on internal investigations into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, April 23, 2010, 15:36