(MintPress) – The pope’s resignation is raising questions regarding immunity granted to him in 2010 in cases related to thousands of sexual abuse cases within the church and his alleged involvement in a church-sponsored cover-up.
The pope’s position was up in the air until it was announced Friday that the pope will remain living in the Vatican, a move that will provide him with security and immunity.
“His continued presence in the Vatican is necessary, otherwise he might be defenseless,” an anonymous Vatican official told Reuters. “He wouldn’t have his immunity, his prerogatives, his security, if he is anywhere else.”
In 2010, the pope was a defendant in a case involving a U.S. priest’s sexual abuse of a student at a U.S. school for the deaf. Cardinal at the time, it was alleged that Pope Benedict knew about the priest abuse and attempted to cover it up, rather than involving law enforcement.
Pope Benedict was also accused by victims’ lawyers of being responsible for the church’s alleged widespread cover-up, but the pope was never subject to trial, as his position as head of state granted him immunity.
Victims’ lawyers argued that U.S. Catholic bishops were responsible for transferring priests with records of pedophelia from one church to another, rather than turning the police over to law enforcement officials. Considering the pope is technically the boss of all bishops, it was argued that he was ultimately responsible.
Vatican documents from 1962 and 2001 indicated communication between Rome and U.S. bishops, however, calling for secrecy in cases of alleged sexual abuse.
Vatican officials have said the secrecy was necessary to protect victims and priests, who had not been convicted of the crime. The church has taken the position that it never told bishops not to report cases to authorities.
The U.S., along with 170 other nations, recognizes the Vatican as a sovereign state. Therefore,
the pope, as its head, is protected from appearing in U.S. courts.
The pope is not currently named in any other U.S. court cases relating to sexual abuse within the church. But Vatican officials say keeping the pope at the Vatican will continue to grant immunity among those who will now see him as a target.
“(If he lived anywhere else) then we might have those crazies who are filing lawsuits, or some magistrate might arrest him like other (former) heads of state have been for alleged acts while he was head of state,” a Vatican source told Reuters.