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Today, Amnesty International issued its annual global report on the state of human rights and named the Vatican in its list of countries with human rights violations. In its report, Amnesty International specifically cited the Vatican for its failure to remove priests accused of sexual abuse from ministry, not co-operating  with authorities, and not giving victims the proper relief, saying “The Holy See did not sufficiently comply with its international obligations relating to the protection of children.”

On Wednesday our law firm filed a lawsuit in Chicago against the Vatican. The lawsuit is an attempt to hold Vatican officials accountable for their direct role in covering up the sexual abuse of children perpetrated by Fr. Daniel McCormack. Some wonder why we filed this suit. After all, didn’t the Archdiocese of Chicago settle with this survivor?

Yesterday the Creditors’ Committee in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Bankruptcy proceedings asked the Court to hire a forensic accounting firm to scrutinize the Archdiocese and Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s transfer of millions of dollars in the years leading up to the bankruptcy. The forensic accountants the Creditor’s Committee is recommending are experts in reviewing financial affairs of organizations, including transfers of money by the organization.