PORTLAND (AP) - A top Vatican official is being sought by attorneys for alleged sex abuse victims who want to know how much information the Roman Catholic Church had about priests accused of molesting children.

San Francisco Archbishop William Levada, the recently appointed guardian of Roman Catholic doctrine, is considered a church authority on sexual-abuse policy. He was archbishop of Portland from 1986 to 1995.

In a motion filed in federal court this week, an attorney for alleged victims asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris for permission to take a deposition from Levada.

"It's like taking the Secretary of Defense's deposition about defense," said John Manly, a California lawyer who also is seeking Levada's deposition. "He is perhaps the most important person in the world on this issue."

The Portland archdiocese filed for bankruptcy last year, the first U.S. diocese ever to seek protection.

Portland attorney Erin Olson, who filed the motion, said she wants to be able to question Levada before he leaves for Rome. The Archdiocese of Portland is cooperating and trying to schedule the deposition, officials told The Oregonian.

"The archdiocese does not have an objection to the deposition of Archbishop Levada, and we've been working on the logistics of trying to arrange that voluntarily without a subpoena," Thomas Dulcich, an attorney for the archdiocese, told newspaper.

Olson said she might have to serve Levada with a subpoena in California if he does not agree to the deposition. Levada was appointed on May 13 as leader of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faithful. His Web site reports he will leave his post in San Francisco on Aug. 17.

Dulcich questioned the timing of Olson's motion, noting that her clients were claiming abuse long before Levada's tenure in Portland.

"Nothing in this motion affects the key issue, which is what, if anything, happened to these clients 30 years ago. Archbishop Levada didn't come to Portland until 1986 . . . years after the fact," Dulcich said.

Levada gave a deposition in April 2004 in three abuse cases involving a priest accused of abusing more than 50 boys.

Because those cases since have been added to the bankruptcy case, another deposition could require a judge's approval under federal court rules.