Oregon judge opens the door

In a landmark legal decision, a federal judge in Oregon on Wednesday denied a motion by attorneys for the Vatican to dismiss a civil lawsuit brought against it by a man who says he was molested by a onetime Chicago priest.

Wednesday’s decision is thought to be the first time such a lawsuit against the Vatican has proceeded this far along in the U.S. courts.

‘It’s going to open the door’

"I’ve never seen another one of these," Bruce Ottley, acting dean of the DePaul University College of Law, said after reading the judge’s 50-page opinion late Wednesday afternoon. "It’s not the first time [the Vatican] has been sued, but it’s the first time . . . I’ve seen the Vatican successfully upheld as a potential defendant, and I think it’s going to open the door."