Appeal planned after ruling favors archdiocese

ST. LOUIS -- An appeals court has ruled that the Archdiocese of St. Louis is not responsible for the hiring and supervision of an allegedly sexually abusive priest.

Peggy Nicholson filed suit claiming she was abused by a priest from Holy Guardian Angels Church in St. Louis when she was a child in the 1950s. The priest died in 1983.

Her suit said the archdiocese should have known of the priest's dangerous propensities, should have warned her family, and should have removed him.

The Eastern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a ruling that the courts have no business inquiring into religious doctrine protected by the First Amendment.

Nicholson's attorney plans to appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court.