You know, for the past 150 years, the Vatican has been a religious institution masquerading as a nation state, and not it looks like it might bight them on the ass, because the cause of its victims has been forwarded to the International Criminal court in the Hague:

A group representing victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests is asking the International Criminal Court to investigate Pope Benedict XVI and three senior cardinals for alleged crimes against humanity.

A New York-based legal charity says they failed to prevent child abuse.

A Vatican lawyer called the case a “ludicrous publicity stunt”.

The Roman Catholic Church has been rocked by a series of sex abuse cover-up scandals in recent years.

The Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which is filing the complaint, says it has submitted more than 20,000 pages of evidence of crimes committed by Catholic clergy against children and vulnerable adults to the Hague-based court.

It is being supported by abuse victims in the United States, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

“Crimes against tens of thousands of victims, most of them children, are being covered up by officials at the highest level of the Vatican,” said the CCR’s lawyer, Pam Spees.

“In this case, all roads really do lead to Rome.”

The International Criminal Court was set up nine years ago to deal with serious international crimes. It lists rape and sexual violence as crimes against humanity.

Time for the Church to fish or cut bait.

If they are a religion, then they do not have sovereign immunity, and, in the case of Rome, Italian prosecutors should be investigating them.

If they are a state, then it’s the Hague, Bitches.