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Legal expert: Abdication could open the way for litigation over abuses

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NEW YORK (AP) - A legal rights group believes Pope Benedict's decision to step down may actually facilitate national legal efforts against high-level Vatican officials seeking to prove the Roman Catholic church facilitated rape and sexual violence by clerics.

Center for Constitutional Rights senior counsel Pam Spees says CFCR's complaint filed with the International Criminal Court alleges the pope and other top Vatican officials took actions that facilitated systematic, widespread sexual violence. It's representing SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a victims' advocacy group.

Spees says the evidence presented with the complaint consists of more than 22,000 pages. Spees says the complaint alleges that Benedict's actions, before and after he headed the church, shielded and aided abusers. She says the complaint proves that the church is guilty not only of inaction, but knowingly taking actions that resulted in victims being exposed to abuses.

She says alleged victims from 70 countries are crying out for justice and just because such legal efforts are difficult doesn't mean they shouldn't be pursued.

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