MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota seeks to trace a direct line from clergy sex abuse victims to the Vatican. The suit pursues damages for three brothers who were abused by a Catholic priest over three years, roughly between 2009 and 2012.

Previous efforts to sue the Vatican over U.S. clergy abuse have failed. Because it has the status of a foreign nation, the Vatican is generally exempt from civil lawsuits filed in the United States.

The attorney for the brothers said he believes the new suit has a better chance of succeeding because he's made a more complete effort to document Vatican authority over Catholic clerics.

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