Keenan v. Holy See

686 F.Supp.3d 810

James KEENAN, Luke Hoffman, Stephen Hoffman, and Benedict Hoffman, Plaintiffs,¹ v. HOLY SEE (State of Vatican City; The Vatican), Defendant.

File No. 19-cv-1272 (ECT/JFD)

United States District Court, D. Minnesota

Signed August 14, 2023

Jeffrey R. Anderson, Michael G. Finnegan, Elin Lindstrom, and Taylor Stippel, Jeff Anderson & Associates P.A., St. Paul, MN, for Plaintiffs James Keenan, Luke Hoffman, Stephen Hoffman, and Benedict Hoffman.

Alexis Ivar Haller, Law Office of Alexis Haller, Aptos, CA; Jeffrey Stanley Lena, Law Office of Jeffrey S. Lena, Berkeley, CA; Jennifer Bruno, Law Office of Jennifer Bruno, Soquel, CA; Aaron G. Thomas and Charles B. Rogers, Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP, Minneapolis, MN, for Defendant Holy See.

OPINION AND ORDER

Eric C. Tostrud, United States District Judge

The four Plaintiffs in this case suffered sexual abuse committed against them in the United States by Roman Catholic priests, and they seek to recover damages from the Holy See, a sovereign nation located in the Vatican City State, Italy, and the supreme body of government of the Roman Catholic Church. "The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act provides that foreign nations are presumptively immune from the jurisdiction of United States courts. The statute, however, sets forth several specific exceptions." Fed. Republic of Ger. v. Philipp, 592 U.S. 169, 141 S. Ct. 703, 707, — L.Ed.2d — (2021). Plaintiffs here contend that two of these exceptions—one covering commercial activities and the other covering tortious acts—apply to authorize federal jurisdiction over the case, and they assert numerous claims under Minnesota law and one claim under international law.

The Holy See has moved to dismiss the case under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). Under Rule 12(b)(1), the Holy See argues that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (or "FSIA") deprives the Court of subject-matter jurisdiction to adjudicate Plaintiffs' claims. Under Rule 12(b)(6), the Holy See argues that Plaintiffs' claims are barred by statutes of limitations and, alternatively, fail on their merits. The motion raises several legal questions. A handful of federal courts have addressed some of these questions in cases brought by child sex-abuse survivors against the Holy See, and they have reached different results.

Here, the Holy See's Rule 12(b)(1) motion will be granted, and the Complaint will be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. There are three case-dispositive conclusions: (1) that Plaintiffs do not plausibly allege Article III standing to assert claims for injunctive relief; (2) that Plaintiffs do not plausibly allege a claim within the FSIA's commercial-activity exception; and (3) that although Plaintiffs plausibly allege claims within the FSIA's tort exception, all of Plaintiffs' claims fall within the tort exception's "discretionary function" and "misrepresentation" carveouts. Though not essential to the outcome, this order addresses other jurisdictional issues raised by the parties. Efficiency interests favor informing the parties how these issues, if they mattered, would be decided.

I²

A

The Holy See, a sovereign nation located in the Vatican City State, Italy, is "the ecclesiastical, governmental, and administrative capital of the Roman Catholic Church and seat of the Supreme Pontiff." Compl. [ECF No. 1] ¶¶ 6, 15. The Holy See creates archdioceses, dioceses, and ecclesiastical provinces of the Church throughout the world. Id. ¶¶ 15, 34.

Plaintiffs, now adults, each suffered sexual abuse as children committed by Roman Catholic priests assigned to parishes in archdioceses in the United States. Father Curtis Wehmeyer abused Plaintiffs Luke, Stephen, and Benedict Hoffman. Father Thomas Adamson abused Plaintiff James Keenan.

B

Father Curtis Wehmeyer was ordained as a priest in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 2001 and was assigned to the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul, Minnesota, from 2006 to 2012. Id. ¶¶ 158, 167-68. Prior to and during his assignment to the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Wehmeyer took part in several incidents of sexual misconduct or suspected misconduct. In 2004, Wehmeyer was cited for loitering in a Minnesota park "that was a known location for men to meet for anonymous sexual encounters." Id. ¶ 161. That same year, an employee at the Catholic school where Wehmeyer then worked reported to the pastor that she had observed Wehmeyer leaving the students' restroom and that a student had told her that Wehmeyer was in the students' restroom "all the time." Id. ¶ 162. The employee again observed Wehmeyer using the boys' restroom after the pastor instructed him not to and, along with another employee, again expressed concerns to the pastor. Id. ¶ 163. The employees and the pastor met with Archbishop Harry Flynn, who told them that Wehmeyer would receive counseling. Id. In May 2004, Wehmeyer approached two "younger-looking" men at a bookstore in Roseville, Minnesota, looking for "contacts" and tried to engage them in conversation about "sexual matters." Id. ¶ 164. Following that incident, Wehmeyer was sent to St. Luke Institute, a facility for sexually offending priests, where he was diagnosed with a sexual disorder. Id. ¶ 165. In February 2006, Wehmeyer was "placed on a monitoring program for problem priests in the [Archdiocese]." Id. ¶ 166.

Four months later, Archbishop Flynn assigned Wehmeyer to the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul, Minnesota. Id. ¶¶ 167-68. In July 2006, a local sheriff's deputy informed an Archdiocesan official, Father Kevin McDonough, that he thought Wehmeyer "was exhibiting signs of sex addiction" and the deputy "wanted to alert the Archdiocese." Id. ¶ 170. Wehmeyer had been stopped by law enforcement officers in a St. Paul park "known as a place where men seek anonymous sexual encounters" and had been seen in the park again later that night and the next day. Id.

In May 2008, Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt replaced Archbishop Flynn and was provided with information about Wehmeyer's history. Id. ¶ 171. In June 2009, Nienstedt promoted Wehmeyer to pastor of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament and a second parish, despite warnings from another priest, Father Peter Laird. Id. ¶ 172. A few months later, Wehmeyer was arrested for driving under the influence after an employee at a gas station reported that Wehmeyer was at the station "intoxicated and talking inappropriately to teenagers." Id. ¶ 173. After the incident, Laird contacted the Vicar General of the Archdiocese to express concerns that Wehmeyer was a "predator." Id. ¶ 174. Wehmeyer apologized to Nienstedt for his arrest, and Nienstedt wrote in a memo that it was "a good lesson" for Wehmeyer and that he was "repentant." Id. ¶ 175. Later investigation revealed multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Nienstedt as well as an "unusual social relationship" between Nienstedt and Wehmeyer that "may have affected [his] judgment with regard to decisions made about [ ] Wehmeyer." Id. ¶¶ 186-97; see id. ¶¶ 201-04.

Plaintiffs Luke, Stephen, and Benedict Hoffman were parishioners at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament. See id. ¶¶ 167, 213. Wehmeyer groomed and sexually abused the Hoffmans at various times between 2006 and 2012. Id. ¶¶ 167-68, 178-80. In the fall of 2009, Laird expressed concern to the Vicar General of the Archdiocese, that, among other things, Wehmeyer had taken the Hoffmans camping with him during the previous summer. Id. ¶ 174. In 2010, a second priest reported to Archdiocesan officials that he had seen Wehmeyer in bed with one of the Hoffmans during a different camping trip. Id. ¶ 176.

On June 8, 2012, the Hoffmans' mother reported to law enforcement that at least two of her sons had been sexually abused by Wehmeyer. Id. ¶ 181. Three days later, Archdiocesan officials contacted police. Id. ¶ 182. Wehmeyer was arrested and charged. Id. ¶¶ 183-84. He subsequently pleaded guilty to twenty charges of criminal sexual abuse and possession of child pornography and was sentenced to five years of imprisonment. Id. ¶ 184. In June 2015, the Ramsey County Attorney's Office criminally charged the Archdiocese with endangering the safety of the Hoffmans, but it later dropped the charges in exchange for an admission of wrongdoing by the Archdiocese. Id. ¶¶ 198, 200.

C

Father Thomas Adamson was ordained as a priest in the Diocese of Winona, Minnesota, in 1958 and worked at Risen Savior Catholic Church in Apple Valley, Minnesota, from about 1981 to 1985. Id. ¶¶ 235, 238. Before he was assigned to Risen Savior Catholic Church, Adamson had a significant history of sexual misconduct. Plaintiffs allege that the Winona Diocese "knew or should have known" that Adamson "sexually abused minor boys as early as 1963." Id. ¶ 240.

Adamson was transferred to different parishes in the Winona Diocese before he was assigned to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1975. Id. Adamson received psychiatric treatment and counseling for sexually abusing minors, but he was not prohibited from ministering to children. Id. ¶ 241. In about 1977, Adamson was arrested for sexually assaulting a sixteen-year-old boy but "remained in the ministry" and was transferred to a different parish. Id. ¶ 242. In about 1980, another priest informed Archdiocesan officials that Adamson had sexually abused a male minor. Id. ¶ 243. Adamson underwent psychiatric evaluation and treatment after this incident. Id. Adamson was then transferred to Risen Savior Catholic Church and "instructed to have no contact with youth," but Plaintiffs allege that he instead had "unsupervised and unlimited access to children" at the parish. Id. ¶¶ 243-46. Plaintiff James Keenan was a parishioner at Risen Savior Catholic Church. Id. ¶¶ 238, 252. Adamson sexually abused Keenan in 1981. Id. ¶ 239.

D

Plaintiffs allege that the Holy See "has known about the widespread problem of child sexual abuse committed by its clergy for centuries but...