Vatican: The Pope Has Immunity From Testifying In Any Pedophilia Trial

According to a Vatican spokesperson, Ill Papi Nazi has immunity from being called to testify in any pedophilia trial because Vatican City is a sovereign nation and Ratzinger is its head of state.

Dalla Torre outlined the Vatican's strategy to defend the pope from being forced to testify in several lawsuits concerning sexual abuse which are currently moving through the U.S. legal system. "The pope is certainly a head of state, who has the same juridical status as all heads of state," he said, arguing he therefore had immunity from foreign courts. Lawyers representing victims of sexual abuse by priests in several cases in the United States have said they would want the pope to testify in an attempt to try to prove the Vatican was negligent. But the pope is protected by diplomatic immunity because more than 170 countries, including the United States, have diplomatic relations with the Vatican. They recognize it as a sovereign state and the pope as its sovereign head.

Dalla Torre rejected the claim that Ratzinger is ultimately the boss of Catholic bishops and therefore responsible for them: "The Church is not a multi-national corporation. He has (spiritual) primacy over the Church ... but every bishop is legally responsible for running a diocese."