WWW- A lawyer who’s suing Pope Benedict for allegedly covering up the sexual abuse of children by a seminarian says he’ll challenge U.S. diplomatic recognition of the Vatican if the pope is given immunity as a head of state.

In the Texas civil lawsuit, Joseph Ratzinger — now Pope Benedict — is accused of conspiring with the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston to cover up the abuse of three boys during the mid-1990s.

Attorney Daniel Shea, who’s representing one of three boys suing the pope, told reporters in Rome that President Bush should ignore a Vatican request to confirm Benedict’s immunity.

Otherwise, Shea says he’ll challenge the constitutionality of U.S. recognition of the Vatican as a sovereign state, although similar court challenges have failed in the past.