A U.S. federal judge in Milwaukee will serve a summons to Pope Benedict XVI and two other Vatican officials for allegedly covering up the sexual abuse committed by Father Lawrence Murphy at St. John's School for the Deaf in Milwaukee.
The decision by Judge Rudolph T. Randa of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in Milwaukee is the first of its kind in seeking cooperation from the Vatican in a church abuse case, according to a statement from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
SNAP leader Arthur Budzinski, himself a victim of abuse at St. John's, said in a statement he hopes the ""Pope himself, if required, will testify directly under oath concerning what he knew and what actions he did and did not take concerning Father Murphy's crimes against us as children.""
