Unholy Immunity: Pope's Claim to be Head of State May Help with Legal Defense in Abuse Lawsuits, But It Raises Troubling Church-State Questions

The documents leaked to The New York Times in March were shocking. A collection of internal church papers outlined how, over the course of 24 years, a Roman Catholic priest molested nearly 200 boys at a school for deaf children in Wisconsin - and how church officials learned about the abuse but did nothing to hold the abuser accountable.