A federal judge in Oregon dismissed a clergy sexual abuse case Monday, the first such case that attempted to hold the Vatican responsible for transferring an offending priest into unsuspecting parishes, NBC News reported. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman ruled there was no proof the Holy See in Rome was the "employer" of the late Father Andrew Ronan, who abused children in Chicago and Portland. "There is no fact in the record on which to base an employment relationship," said Jeffrey Luna, a lawyer for the Vatican in the United States. According to court documents, Ronan admitted to the abuse to his superiors at Our Lady of Benburb, Ireland, but was transferred to a Chicago high school anyway. He was subsequently transferred to Oregon, where the abuse continued. When the lawsuit was filed in Portland, it was lauded by clergy abuse victims as the first to require the Vatican to produce documents detailing its involvement in an American priest's career path.
