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Holocaust Survivors' Suit Against Vatican Bank Dismissed By 9th Circuit

By Howard M. Friedman

In Alperin v. Vatican Bank, (9th Cir., Dec. 29, 2009), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed on sovereign immunity grounds a lawsuit by Holocaust survivors against the Vatican Bank. As explained in an earlier 9th Circuit decision in the case:

A group of twenty-four individuals and four organizations ... claim that the Vatican Bank, known by its official title Istituto per le Opere di Religione, the Order of Friars Minor, and the Croatian Liberation Movement ..., profited from the genocidal acts of the Croatian Ustasha political regime ... which was supported throughout World War II by Nazi forces. That profit allegedly passed through the Vatican Bank in the form of proceeds from looted assets and slave labor. The Holocaust Survivors brought suit in federal court claiming conversion, unjust enrichment, restitution, the right to an accounting, and human rights violations and violations of international law arising out of the defendants' alleged involvement with the Ustasha during and following World War II.

This decision, involving the property claims, concluded that neither the international takings exception nor the commercial activities exception removed this suit from protection under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. AP yesterday reported on the decision.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on December 30, 2009 (boomark / email).