Four people who have accused defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of sexual abuse are suing the Vatican.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Newark, New Jersey alleges the Vatican should be held liable for allowing McCarrick to serve in multiple positions in New York and New Jersey when it knew there had been numerous allegations of sexual abuse against him.

McCarrick was once one of the highest-ranking Roman Catholic officials in the U.S. He was defrocked last year.

An internal Vatican report released last week found that bishops, cardinals and popes downplayed or dismissed multiple reports of sexual misconduct by the now-90-year-old McCarrick.

The Vatican couldn't immediately be reached for comment.