[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] on Monday affirmed [opinion, PDF] a lower court decision denying in part defendant's motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit alleging that officials of the Roman Catholic Church failed to warn the public of sexual abuse of children by priests. The plaintiffs, who claim to be victims of clergy sexual abuse [JURIST news archive], filed a class action suit in 2004 against the Holy See [official website]. The Vatican appealed the partial denial of summary judgment by the US District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, arguing that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the Vatican is immune from suit as a foreign state pursuant to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) [28 U.S.C. § 1602 et seq text]. Plaintiffs also appealed the partial grant of summary judgment, claiming that the FSIA does not immunize the Holy See from suit. On appeal, Judge Julia Smith Gibbons wrote:

[I]f plaintiffs believe that the Holy See acted in a private capacity, then the plaintiffs are limited to arguing that an exception to the FSIA applies; such claims cannot serve as reasons to avoid the FSIA altogether. The exceptions to FSIA capture all instances where Congress has deemed conduct, if pursued by a foreign sovereign, sufficiently private so as to eliminate foreign sovereign immunity. In turn, the alternative capacity argument can only succeed to the extent that it identifies conduct that fits within one of the exceptions outlined under FSIA.