Seattle University Law Library

It is reported that as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will discontinue sporting his red shoes by Adriano Stefanelli and the mozetta or elbow-length white cape. Also on the list of discontinued items will be his Head of State immunity. In the future, the Pope Emeritus might have a harder time fighting off claims that he assisted priests and other clergy in covering up allegations of child sexual abuse while head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith under his pre-papal moniker, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. See the reasoning used by the court in Doe v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston-Houston, 408 F.Supp 2d 272 as to immunity. Could he be extradited? No, the Vatican does not have an extradition treaty with any other state including Italy.