June 16


USA//CALIFORNIA:

Holocaust survivors' lawsuit against Vatican proceeds----Vatican dealt
another legal setback in Holocaust claims lawsuit


The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has denied a Vatican
petition for reconsideration and has shown no interest in a Vatican
request for an extraordinary en banc hearing of the Ninth Circuit.

This follows the Ninth Circuit's April 18, 2005 ruling that Holocaust
survivors will be permitted to continue their claims against the Vatican
for an accounting and restitution of the so-called Ustasha, or Croatian
treasury, consisting of funds plundered from former Yugoslavia during the
Second World War.

The majority of the victims of genocide in Croatia during the Second World
War were Orthodox Christian Serbs, over 500,000 of whom were liquidated by
the Croatian Ustasha with the backing of some Roman Catholic clerics.

The Ninth Circuit also issued an amended opinion which indicated the
Italian Peace Treaty of 1947 with the Allies likely did not preclude the
lawsuit because the Vatican was not a signatory to that treaty.

According to attorneys for the plaintiffs, this latest decision will
hopefully provide momentum to resolve this lawsuit for the Holocaust
survivors, many of whom are elderly and frail.

"The Vatican talks about reconciliation with Orthodox Christians but is
playing a despicable waiting game for the last survivors of the Yugoslav
Holocaust to expire," said attorney Jonathan Levy.

Background information on this case can be found at
www.vaticanbankclaims.com.

(source: renewamerica.us; Matt C. Abbott is the former executive
director of the Illinois Right to Life Committee and the former director
of public affairs for the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League. He is a
Catholic journalist and commentator)