The Vatican has filed a motion to dismiss the U.S. lawsuit against it. Religion Clause blog reports on the basis for the filing:
…the Vatican filed two motions to dismiss the clergy sexual abuse lawsuit that has been brought against it in federal court in Kentucky. The suit alleges that the Holy See is liable, under the doctrine of respondeat superior, for failure of clergy in the United States to warn parishioners that their children would be under the care of known pedophiles, and for the failure of U.S. bishops to report suspected abusers to civil authorities. (See prior posting.) One motion to dismiss focuses heavily on statute of limitations arguments.
The second motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction focuses on the argument that the Archbishop of Louisville was not an “employee” of the Vatican, so that the respondeat superior claim that is the basis for jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act collapses.