American appeals court reinstates proceedings against Vatican Bank by Shoah survivors

A federal appeals court in the United States has reinstated a lawsuit brought by survivors of the Holocaust who allege that the Vatican Bank accepted millions of dollars worth of their valuables stolen by Nazi sympathizers. The Vatican Bank, the financial arm of the Roman Catholic Church, denies allegations that it stored the looted assets from thousands of gypsies, Jews, Serbs and others who were killed or captured by the Nazi-backed regime that controlled Croatia during World War II. A judge had dismissed the case, but the appeals court said the survivors should be heard, in order to be compensated and given an account of what money, if any, the bank received from the Ustasha regime in Croatia. An attorney for the survivors and their beneficiaries said the decision, combined with a new pope expected to be chosen soon, could lead to an out-of-court settlement. In reinstating the monetary claims against the Vatican Bank, the appeals court overruled a lower court judge who said the lawsuit could upset "governmental negotiations and diplomacy" toward resolving claims originating from World War II.