Guardian of the faith spends seven hours in court

BY STAFF REPORTER
THE PREFECT of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF), perhaps the most important living man in the Catholic Church apart from the Pope, was questioned for seven hours on Monday about how he handled allegations of priest sex abuse during his time as Archbishop of Portland.
Archbishop William Levada, who was also once Archbishop of San Francisco, was described as articulate and intelligent by plaintiff's attorney Kelly Clark.
Mr Clark was prevented by a court order from discussing the specifics of the deposition, but said that Archbishop Levada's testimony was "a remarkably uncontentious deposition".
Pope Benedict XVI handpicked Archbishop Levada last year as his successor at the head of the CDF. The Pontiff, as Cardinal Ratzinger, turned the congregation into perhaps the most formidable force in the modern Church.
The day before Archbishop Levada flew to Rome to take up his post in August 2004 he was given a subpoena ordering him to return to America in January to answer questions regarding his time in Portland.
Archbishop Levada served as Archbishop of Portland from 1986 to 1995, before transferring to San Francisco. In 2004, Portland became the first Catholic diocese in the United States to declare itself bankrupt as it faced payments of £88 million in damages for sex abuse lawsuits.
About 150 of those suits are still pending, according to Mr Clark. On December 30 Judge Elizabeth Perris limited the scope of Levada's "deposition" to his knowledge of church policies and procedures in dealing with sex abuse claims, accusations against specific priests and policies regarding storage and disposition of records, among other things.
Lawyers are forbidden from questioning Levada about his current job in Rome or his past job at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He served as a CDF staff member from 1976 to 1982.
In his new position Archbishop Levada reviews abuse allegations against priests worldwide and either takes action against the accused clergy or refers the case back to local bishops.