Rome:
The case of a Wisconsin priest accused of preying on boys at a school for the deaf was presented to the Vatican by one of the victims a year earlier than previously thought, according to documents revealed on Thursday in another lawsuit aimed at the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church.
A man identified in the lawsuit as "John Doe 16" of Illinois wrote a March 5, 1995, letter to then-Vatican Secretary of State Angelo Sodano alleging that the Reverend Lawrence Murphy molested him for a number of years.
Previously, it was believed that the Vatican first learned of the allegations against Murphy in a July 1996 letter from Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland.
Murphy, who died in 1998, is accused of sexually abusing approximately 200 boys at the St John's School for the Deaf from 1950 to 1974.
His case drew renewed scrutiny after the recent release of documents suggesting that a Vatican office led by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now the pope, failed to aggressively discipline Murphy.
The lawsuit was welcomed by the local survivor's group.
Peter Isely, Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests, spoke to reporters on the steps of the Milwaukee courthouse, where the suit was filed.
"So this is an historic day and hopefully this is going to result in historic changes that are going to bring a real and lasting resolution to this terrible and horrible problem that has erupted now, as we know, around the globe," he said.
John Doe 16's letter was released by his attorney, Jeff Anderson, who provided a copy of a receipt showing the registered letter had reached the Vatican.
The man wrote to Sodano again and got no response, according to Anderson.
While Anderson said this was the fifth case his firm had filed involving Murphy, it was the "first case we have brought directly and exclusively against the Vatican."
The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in the US federal court in Milwaukee, accusing Vatican officials of failing to protect children from a man the Vatican knew had possibly committed acts of child abuse.
The lawsuit seeks the release of confidential Vatican files detailing clergy abuse allegations, as well as unspecified monetary damages but Anderson was quick to make clear that financial compensation was not their primary motive
It also seeks a jury trial.
In response, The Vatican said it had no role whatsoever in the abuse of deaf students by a Wisconsin priest and said a new lawsuit naming the pope and other top officials as defendants is just a publicity stunt.
In a statement, the Vatican's US attorney Jeffrey Lena said most of the complaint is without merit and rehashes theories already rejected by US courts.
Lena acknowledges that sympathy is due to the victims of the Reverent Lawrence Murphy.
But he says the Vatican knew nothing of Murphy's crimes until decades after the abuse occurred and that it isn't responsible as a result.
The lawsuit says Sodano, Ratzinger and fellow Vatican official Tarcisio Bertone all knew about the allegations against Murphy and conspired to keep them secret.
The lawsuit says the claims are based on "information and belief" but doesn't offer proof.
The court document suggests that the Vatican failed to discipline Murphy because he was a prolific fundraiser.
The defendants are Ratzinger, Bertone, Sodano and the Holy See, identified as the state of the Vatican City.
Cardinal Bertone was Ratzinger's deputy at the time of the investigation and is now the Vatican's secretary of state.
The Vatican spokesman, the Reverent Federico Lombardi, has previously said the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was only informed of the Murphy case some 20 years after the diocese knew of the allegations and after civil authorities decided to drop their investigation.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is the powerful office that among other things investigates clerical sex abuse.
Lombardi has said that given Murphy's age and health, and that no further allegations had been levelled against him.
Bertone told the bishops to stop the trial because too much time had passed. Murphy, however, died before the trial was officially halted.