Supreme Court Rejects Vatican Appeal

Someone calculated that on average, marriage as an economic benefit is worth over 400000$ per couple during their lifetime Multiply that by the almost certainly 20 million Gay people, 10 million couples most of whom would marry if they could and had a history of marriage, and the number is 4 Trillion $$ Need I say more. And what redress does the church owe for the hatred of the Jews, which their boy hitler leveraged to get elected and 50 million died. At a lousy $1 mil/person, that totals about 50 Trillion $$ Now I am not a dreamer. the real reason I write here is to get the political activism of the gay community going. If every gay person gave $5/month to their favorite gay rights group, that would total $1.2 Billon per year. I know its hard to get involved in politics when you have been forced into a closet of shame and fear, even if you are out to family, friends, and co-workers etc. There is reticence. But a Billion $$ could help win a lot of elections.

Daryk, I noticed that you referenced the Catholic Church. The church this article refers to is the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH not just the Catholic Church. There are other Catholic Churches that do not follow the VATICAN and therefore have no part of this notorious cover up. Not to say members of these other churches are better or worse, I just want you and other readers to realize this is about the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. Thanks.

@ Edward What does "Age of Consent" have to do with Catholic priests and bishops sworn to celibacy, raping and molesting children, such as their altar boys, or even girls on occasion? Even if one were to assume that it's ok for the clergy to violate their vows, and if the children are of whatever "Age of Consent," there is still the key word of "Consent!" Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that those who commit sexual acts with children are still pedophiles. And as far as I know, most countries do have laws against that, whether the children are willing or not. Those who are guilty need to be locked away in prison like any other sex offender, and given psychiatric treatment... they're sick, Edward.

FACT: Check out Wikipedia.com on Age of consent "Age" The concept of what actually makes up an age of consent differs between jurisdictions. Common examples include: * Fixed age of consent— most jurisdictions the age of consent is actually a specified fixed age, such as in the Vatican City where it is set at 12 years, or in England and Wales where it is 16. * Onset of puberty as the age of consent— in some jurisdictions there is no fixed age of consent. Instead, sex is allowed with people who are sexually mature. In females it usually means passing menarche, the first menstrual bleeding. Such jurisdictions include Yemen, but only in marriage, the states of Nayarit and Querétaro in Mexico and Bolivia * Marriageable age— not all countries have an age of consent, however a number of those jurisdictions (including Kuwait) make all sexual intercourse outside of marriage illegal so the de facto age of consent is the minimum age someone can get married.

I'm surprised I didn't see any comments that say "It's OBAMA's FAULT!" :) Seriously though, it's about damn time the Catholic Church was 'judged' for the coverup of child rape and molestation. It's really no surprise at all that if their methods are to simply hide the actions of their priests, that they are in fact condoning their actions... of course their defense would be "We're immune and don't have to obey the laws of any country." I wonder, does the Vatican itself have any kind of laws prohibiting sexual acts with children, or are priests only prohibited from having sex with consenting adults? I thought celibacy meant no sex at all, but that's just me. It really makes me wonder why people can actually still attend or believe in this church. I suppose it's the mentality of the followers that has allowed this corrupt entity to do the things it's done (since its creation) and continue to exist. They really are sheep. I agree with Ray from Jackson, MS on how to solve it! Brilliant!

@George, that's because it's motion to dismiss. Motion's to dismiss are procedural. Denials are substantive and get raised after the judge rules on the motion to dismiss.

ha ha hahaha! eat shit, ratzinger!

OK so they are a sovereign state. Let's declare every priest and nun in the country ambassadors to the country of the Vatican. Then we immediately break tries with said country and expel all of their ambassadors. Problem solved.

I always thought it was a business or government entity. It's all about control of the masses (no pun intended). The retoric of bringing the sheep back to the fold was lost a long time ago, although there are some in the habit that really are good and are there to follow the calling. It must be a huge struggle for them. Just like all other business and government entities wher ther still are a few that are there with good purpose and reason. Perhaps further scrutiny will divulge th RC should be paying taxes like other businesses? Can't have it both ways, boys!

the law is that anyone, anywhere who has any financial interest whatsoever in the united states may be sued in u.s. courts.