Minnesota attorney Anderson unveiling suit naming pope, Vatican officials in Rev. Murphy case

Attorney suing Vatican, pope over Murphy case

ST. PAUL, Minn. — An attorney says he is filing a federal lawsuit that accuses Pope Benedict XVI and senior Vatican officials of failing to defrock a Wisconsin priest despite allegations he molested at least 200 deaf children from 1950 to 1975.

Jeff Anderson says the plaintiff was a student at a suburban Milwaukee school for the deaf and an alleged victim of abuse by Rev. Lawrence Murphy.

Anderson says he will hold a news conference Thursday afternoon at his office in St. Paul, Minn., but that the plaintiff will not attend.

He says the alleged victim sent certified letters to the Vatican in 1995 asking that Murphy be defrocked, but that he received no response.

He says the lawsuit also will seek the release of secret Vatican files detailing clergy abuse allegations.