Damned if you do.

Christian Century, August 23, 2005

DAMNED IF YOU DO ...: Back in 1994 a lawyer working for the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, was responding to a lawsuit seeking support for a child fathered by a seminarian. He argued in Archbishop William Levada's name that the mother had engaged "in unprotected intercourse" when she "should have known that could result in pregnancy." In other words, church-prohibited contraception should have been used.

The legal argument went unnoticed until Stephanie Collopy returned to court last month (July) seeking added child support. Levada this year succeeded Pope Benedict XVI, nee Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog. The August 3 Los Angeles Times article pointing to the earlier legal defense said that Levada was unavailable for comment, but the attorney, Richard J. Kuhn, explained that when he wrote the argument he had taken a "common sense" legal perspective. Kuhn said he doubted that Levada actually saw his pleading in the case. Ultimate responsibility still lies with Levada, said theologian Richard O'Brien of the University of Notre Dame. "Archbishop Levada would have--or certainly should have--known what his lawyers were arguing on his behalf."