Could the Vatican Go to Court for Human-Rights Abuses?

When a group of victims of pedophile priests announced on Sept. 13 that they would ask the International Criminal Court (ICC) to try the Pope on charges of crimes against humanity, the Vatican was quick to dismiss the petition as a “ludicrous publicity stunt.” After all, prosecutors would have to prove that Pope Benedict XVI, in allegedly neglecting to address pervasive sex abuse in the Catholic …