United States | News & Politics

Only one judge in Louisiana has ruled in favor of the Catholic church’s ongoing attempts to strike down a law there which allowed old abuse claims their day in court – even after a state supreme court decision upheld the constitutionality of that so-called “lookback window”.

But now, that judge – Kendrick J Guidry of Lake Charles – is being forced to acknowledge that his ruling benefited a specific church on whose finance committee he sits, giving him a direct financial interest that required his recusal under the state’s judicial code.

Guidry’s handling of the situation has invited questions about why he didn’t recuse himself much earlier. And it served up another of multiple instances in which avowedly Catholic judges in Louisiana – one of the religion’s US strongholds – have issued rulings in favor of a church or affiliated group only to later admit they should not be hearing the case.

These controversial rulings have come as dioceses across the state are grappling with a decades-old, financially costly clergy abuse scandal.