Los Angeles, Calif., Oct 17, 2007 / 08:35 am
A Los Angeles judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday against Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera, who had been accused of transferring a priest accused of sexual abuse to the United States with the co-operation of Catholic authorities in the United States, the Associated Press reports.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu M. Berle dismissed the suit because the plaintiff did not have enough evidence against the cardinal. The judge likewise dismissed claims against the Mexican Diocese of Tehuacan, where the cardinal was bishop at the time he transferred the priest.
The plaintiff alleged that Father Nicolas Aguilar Rivera raped him in his room at the rectory when he was twelve years old. The priest allegedly threatened to abuse his siblings if he did not keep silent.
Cardinal Rivera, who is not related to the priest, declared that he had sent a letter to Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony in 1987 warning that the priest had "homosexual problems." A Los Angeles archdiocesan spokesman has said Cardinal Mahony never received the letter.