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A judge in St. Paul this week rejected a lawsuit that four clergy abuse victims from Minnesota filed against the Vatican.

 over sexual abuse by former St. Paul priest Curtis Wehmeyer that had started around a decade prior when they were children. A fourth plaintiff, James Keenan, alleged that 

, then a priest at an Apple Valley, Minn., parish, abused him in 1981.

St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson, who has represented clergy abuse victims for decades, attempted to draw a direct line of authority from the priests, through Minnesota bishops, up to Vatican officials.

 that the Vatican is exempt from U.S. lawsuits under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, and the law’s limited exceptions do not apply in this case. Anderson sued the Holy See previously without success.

 in 2015 after he went to prison for abusing children and possessing child abuse images. Adamson was suspended from ministry in 1984 and 

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A judge in St. Paul this week rejected a lawsuit that four clergy abuse victims from Minnesota filed against the Vatican. Judge Eric Tostrud ruled that the Vatican is exempt from U.S. lawsuits under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and the law’s limited exceptions do not apply in this case.

Stephen Hoffman, 21, left, and his brothers Ben and Luke.

Judge rejects Minnesota abuse victims' suit against Vatican

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