Clerical Sexual Abuses and Church’s Civil Responsibility: A Comparative Analysis of American and Italian Case Law

The present paper analyses the crucial matter of civil responsibility of catholic hierarchical authorities in the case of clerical sexual abuses. American case law is complex. In the USA several dioceses have been involved in clerical sexual abuse crisis and courts deeply investigate the relationship between ministers and higher ecclesiastical authorities so as to assess whether an ascending liability can be identified. Italian judges are increasingly less prone to adopt a deferential approach towards Church legal system and in recent rulings analysed whether and to what extent a vicarious liability of the Dioceses can be recognized. The present paper provides a comparative approach between American and Italian case law, analyzing how they are facing clerical sexual abuses crisis and taking into consideration the two different legal framework and their recent developments.