Editorial: Finn's resignation is a bitter but necessary reckoning | National Catholic Reporter

 

NCR Editorial Staff  |  May. 4, 2015

 

The resignation of Robert Finn as bishop of the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., is a bitter but necessary moment of reckoning for leaders of the Catholic church if they hope to begin to deal seriously with their long betrayal of the community's trust.

Let's be clear that this is only a beginning. Finn was removed for cause, we have been told. Finn was criminally convicted for failing to report Fr. Shawn Ratigan, who ultimately pleaded guilty to possessing and producing child pornography. Ratigan received a 50-year prison sentence.

Finn also violated the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, commonly called the Dallas Charter, which the U.S. bishops themselves wrote to guide their response to the violation of children by clergy.

Upholding the Dallas Charter is the one clear signal the bishops can use to ensure deeply skeptical Catholics, not to mention the general public, that they have broken with the despicable practices of the past, when they hid and covered up sexual predators. The Dallas Charter is an imperfect document, but it is the only yardstick the bishops have for measuring their integrity on this issue. That is why Finn became the test case of church resolve to hold bishops accountable.

It may seem unfair that Finn had to take this role. Bishops and cardinals who should have faced criminal prosecution for covering up crimes more extensive and horrible by many degrees than those ignored by Finn have avoided, via legal technicalities, such scrutiny and gone quietly to either retirement or the grave.

"Bishops overseeing the crisis dismissed themselves for decades from any responsibility in the scandal. It was a brazen attempt to sidestep the mountains of evidence revealing that they had long ignored the plight of child victims while engaging in elaborate schemes to hide the heinous behavior of thousands of priests. Any lack of fairness is the result of nothing more or less than the clerical culture that looked first to protect itself and its privileges. Only when forced by legal processes and public pressure did bishops deign to consider the deep wounds inflicted on the most vulnerable in the Catholic family.

Finn's example shows how easily those in authority can ignore even the most basic steps in prevention. The church has made tremendous strides in such areas as requiring background checks, educating both adult ministers and children appropriately regarding proper boundaries, and creating safe environments for children. However, the recently released annual Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People makes clear that continued diligence is essential -- but is in some places lacking.

"While substantive progress has been made, it should not be concluded that the sexual abuse of minors is a problem of the past that has been adequately addressed," wrote Francesco Cesareo, chairman of the National Review Board. He warns against "Charter drift," referring to instances of laxity in some dioceses of upholding the standards of the bishops' charter. Any bishop who thinks he can relax on this issue should look carefully at Kansas City.

Cesareo also particularly notes that the Lincoln, Neb., diocese and five eparchies stubbornly refuse to cooperate with auditing procedures. Herein lies the final lesson in the Finn case.

Finn has resigned, and we are told it's because of his mishandling of a child abuse case, but we don't know that for certain. We don't know that, because there are no established procedures for removing a bishop who mishandles child abuse cases. If there were such procedures, all the provisions of the Dallas Charter could be enforced, and the Lincoln diocese would either comply or its bishop would be sanctioned.

Now we've been told that under the auspices of Pope Francis' sex abuse commission such procedures are being worked on, and we were told last month that Francis' Council of Cardinals has put the issue of bishops' accountability "on the table," but we've seen no concrete evidence of this yet. Until we see actual procedures in writing and actual cases prosecuted, we'll remain skeptical.

The Council of Cardinals needs to hear from Teresa White, an abuse survivor who was part of a 2008 settlement with the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese.

She said on April 21, the day of Finn's resignation, that it is important to know the process that led to that resignation. "I want full accountability, I don't want partial accountability," she said. "I don't want any more smoke and mirrors with the church. I want them to own up to their responsibilities to protect children and young people."

For 30 years, we've heard these same sentiments from many other survivors. It is long past time for the church to have in place a clearly delineated process to hold bishops responsible for their actions and inactions in this tragedy.

Editorial: Finn's resignation is a bitter but necessary reckoning | National Catholic Reporter

The paradoxes of Bishop Finn | USCatholic.org

 

Rejoicing over the recent resignation of Bishop Robert Finn as the bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph is unseemly. I take no joy in another person’s distress, and I wonder what the church will do with a bishop who is only 62 years old and has 13 years of active episcopal ministry left. What does the church do with a bishop without a diocese? 

Bernard Law, when he first stepped down from the See of Boston, was supposed to live a quiet life of prayer as chaplain for the Alma Mercy Sisters, but we all know how that worked out. A similar call to Finn for a cushy Roman job is out of the question. There is a different pope now.

This is but one of the paradoxes in Finn’s case. Another is: Why did he choose to ignore the Dallas Charter, the compact that he had with his fellow bishops, not to allow sexually abusive priests to remain in ministry? That was a promise that the entire body of American bishops made to the faithful in the United States. How could Finn think that he knew better than his fellow bishops? Did he ever consider the effects of his breach on the rest of the American church, namely the persistence of the doubt that if one bishop was breaking the Charter, others probably were as well, but were just better at not getting caught?

And another paradox: Why did his fellow bishops not call him out publicly for his dishonor? After all, it was their joint promise that he broke. Where was the fraternal correction from the American bishops?In Germany, when the Bishop of Bling, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of the diocese of Limburg, spent $43 million dollars to renovate his palace, the outcry from the German bishops was public and immediate. Within four months, Tebartz-van Elst was gone.

In contrast, there was no public outcry by the American bishops when Finn was found to have harbored a sexually abusive priest. If there had been, the period between when Finn pleaded guilty to child endangerment and when he actually stepped down would certainly have been shorter than two years and seven months. It is no accident that, within a few months of Cardinal Sean O’Malley saying that Finn’s case had to be “urgently” addressed in his 60 Minutes interview, Finn was gone. And it is unfortunate that no other American bishop spoke up publicly sooner, or Finn might have been gone sooner. Why do our bishops lack the moral fortitude of the German bishops when it comes to criticizing one of their own?

And speaking of our bishops and their collective treatment of Bishop Finn, this recalls yet another paradox. In the news over Finn’s resignation after his conviction for failing to report suspected child abuse in Jackson County, Missouri, it has been forgotten that, in order to avoid prosecution on similar charges in Clay County, Missouri, Finn handed significant power over his diocese to the public prosecutor there. Pursuant to that agreement, Finn had to meet with the Clay County prosecutor once a month for five years to personally report to any charges of child sexual abuse involving diocesan clergy or staff. He also had to report what the diocese was doing to deal with these charges. In addition, Finn, together with the diocesan ombudsman and director of child protection, had to make presentations on child abuse to each of the nine parishes in Clay County.

At the same time Finn was avoiding prosecution in Clay County through this agreement, giving the public prosecutor unprecedented power over an American diocese, the rest of our bishops were gearing up their campaign to defend religious liberty, which they said was under attack in our country. Every diocese was to hold a “Fortnight for Freedom” prior to July 4, for Catholics “to study, pray and take public action to fight what they see as the government’s attempts to curtail religious freedom.”

Does anyone see an obvious contradiction here? Not one bishop mentioned, in their discussion of the assaults on religious freedom, the fact that one of their own had committed one of the greatest assaults on religious freedom in order to avoid his own criminal prosecution.

Right now, in Finn’s case, there are still more questions than answers. One thing is certain, however: We can never allow this situation to repeat itself. The safety of our children in the hands of our church can never again be placed in doubt. And no diocesan bishop who ignores this should remain in office for an extra minute.

Nicholas Cafardi, dean emeritus and professor of law at Duquesne University, is a former chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People.

The paradoxes of Bishop Finn | USCatholic.org

Robert Finn, Missouri Bishop Convicted of Shielding Pedophile Priest, Resigns - NYTimes.com

 

• ​​NYT Now

Robert Finn, Missouri Bishop Convicted of Shielding Pedophile Priest, Resigns

By LAURIE GOODSTEINAPRIL 21, 2015

Pope Francis accepted the resignation on Tuesday of Bishop Robert W. Finn as head of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri, heeding pleas from parishioners and priests that the bishop had lost the credibility to lead after being convicted three years ago of failing to report a priest who took pornographic pictures of girls.

It was the first time that Francis had taken action against an American bishop who neglected to protect children from pedophiles in the priesthood. Although the Vatican did not state why Bishop Finn resigned, the circumstances were clear-cut because Bishop Finn had received international notoriety as the first Roman Catholic prelate ever criminally convicted of shielding an accused priest.

 

Now Francis faces a much tougher call: whether he will take concrete steps to keep bishops worldwide accountable for protecting the children in their flocks from sexual abuse by clerics and church workers. In the long history of the abuse scandal, the Vatican says, it has defrocked more than 850 priests and penalized at least 2,500 more, but the matter of discipline for bishops has remained the great unfinished piece of business, and the pressure to act is only growing.

In the last month, Francis has faced bitter protests from Catholics in Chile over his decision to install Bishop Juan Barros in the Diocese of Osorno despite claims that the bishop witnessed abuse years ago and did nothing.

And on Tuesday, Marie Collins, a member of the Vatican’s special commission on clergy — which Francis appointed to advise him on handling sexual abuse — said that the group had presented him with a plan for instituting standards and procedures to keep those in the hierarchy accountable.

“The commission has put forward a proposal to the Holy Father to advance bishop accountability, not just of bishops, but of all church leadership,” Ms. Collins said.

A survivor of abuse from Ireland, she added that the proposal was supported by the entire commission, which includes priests and Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, who also serves on a separate cardinals’ advisory board to the pope. But she declined to provide details.

“It’s with the Holy Father, so it’s basically up to him now what he decides on that proposal,” she said, adding, “We await his response.”

She described the resignation of Bishop Finn as “good news” that “has taken too long, obviously, but is the way that anyone, I think, who is concerned about child protection wants to see things go.”

Parishioners and priests in Bishop Finn’s diocese had been petitioning the Vatican for three years to remove him. In September, the pope sent a Canadian archbishop to Missouri to investigate, and several local Catholics and priests said afterward that the archbishop had asked them whether they thought that Bishop Finn had lost the confidence of the faithful.

Speculation that Bishop Finn would be removed grew when he was absent last week for a confirmation, and was then spotted in Rome.

Such a resignation is extremely rare when a bishop is not ill or close to the retirement age, 75. Bishop Finn is 62 and has served in his diocese just short of 10 years.

The Vatican announced the resignation in a brief note in its daily news bulletin Tuesday and did not give a reason. But the Vatican cited a provision in church law under which a bishop is “earnestly requested” to resign because of ill health or “some other grave cause.”

In a statement released by the diocese, Bishop Finn said, “It has been an honor and joy for me to serve here among so many good people of faith.”

Francis appointed Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, who leads the archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, to administer Bishop Finn’s former diocese but did not name a successor.

Bishop Finn was convicted in 2012 on a misdemeanor charge involving the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, a charismatic parish priest who Bishop Finn had been warned was behaving inappropriately with children. When Father Ratigan took his laptop computer in for repairs in December 2010, a technician immediately told church officials that the laptop contained what appeared to be sexually explicit photographs of young girls.

After Father Ratigan attempted suicide, Bishop Finn reassigned him to live in a convent and ordered him to stay away from children. But Father Ratigan continued to attend church events and take lewd pictures of girls for five more months, until church officials reported him to the police in May 2011, without Bishop Finn’s approval.

The bishop was convicted after a bench trial, and sentenced to serve two years of court-supervised probation.

Jeff Weis, a parishioner who helped to lead the petition campaign pushing for Bishop Finn’s removal, said in a statement that with the resignation, “the prayers of this hurt community have been answered.” But he added, “The damage done is immeasurable.”

Bishop Finn is not the first to resign under a cloud for mishandling sexual abuse. Cardinal Bernard Law resigned the leadership of the Boston Archdiocese in 2002 after The Boston Globe revealed he had failed to remove priests accused of abuse and simply reassigned them to new parishes. The cardinal later received an appointment in Rome and continued to serve on influential Vatican committees. It is unclear where Bishop Finn will be assigned next, but he remains a bishop.

In September, Francis dismissed a Paraguayan bishop, Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, who had been accused of giving a promotion to an Argentine priest accused of sexual abuse. But a Vatican spokesman said the dismissal had more to do with conflicts with his fellow bishops than with his handling of the accused priest.

The removal of Bishop Finn will now put pressure on Pope Francis to act against Bishop Barros in Chile, said Anne Barrett Doyle, a director of BishopAccountability.org, an advocacy group that maintains an online database of sexual abuse cases. She said that, as with Bishop Finn, no pope had ever confirmed that the reason for a bishop’s removal was negligence in handling child abuse cases.

“We urge Pope Francis to issue such a statement immediately,” Ms. Doyle said. “That would be unprecedented, and it would send a bracing message to bishops and religious superiors worldwide that a new era has begun.”

As for the commission’s proposal on accountability for bishops, the challenge for Francis is what standards he would adopt to determine when to discipline a bishop, said Kurt Martens, an associate professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America, in Washington.

“You might have busloads of European bishops you’re going to remove if you have very high standards,” Professor Martens said. “Where do you draw the line and what happens if the standards evolve?”

Robert Finn, Missouri Bishop Convicted of Shielding Pedophile Priest, Resigns - NYTimes.com

Pope Francis Accepts Resignation of Bishop Robert Finn | Daily News | NCRegister.com

 

The resignation of the bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., takes effect immediately.

by ELISE HARRIS/CNA/EWTN NEWS 04/21/2015 Comment

Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph

– CNA file photo

VATICAN CITY — Nearly two and a half years after being the first U.S. bishop convicted of a misdemeanor in failing to report suspected child abuse by a priest in his diocese, Kansas City-St. Joseph’s bishop has resigned.

The Vatican confirmed Pope Francis’ acceptance of Bishop Finn’s resignation according to Canon 104 Article 2 in the Code of Canon Law in an April 21 statement, released at noon local time.

Article 2 of Canon 104, according to the Vatican’s website, refers to a situation when “a diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office.”

Bishop Finn’s resignation will take effect immediately, and although he will still be a bishop, he will no longer lead a diocese. It is up to Pope Francis to choose his successor.

The brief Vatican statement gave no word as to what Bishop Finn will do following his resignation.

Last September, two years after Bishop Finn’s trial and guilty verdict, an archbishop held a visitation on behalf of the Vatican and met with Bishop Finn.

The reasons for the visitation were not revealed, however some reports indicate that the visitation was intended to evaluate the bishop’s leadership of his diocese.

In September 2012, Bishop Finn, now 62, was convicted on a misdemeanor count of failure to report suspected child abuse after he and his diocese failed to report that lewd images of children had been found on a laptop belonging to Father. Shawn Ratigan a priest of the diocese, in December 2010.

The diocese’s vicar general had told Bishop Finn about one of the images, but the bishop did not see them himself.

Father Ratigan attempted suicide after the images were discovered and initially had not been expected to live. Diocesan officials told law enforcement officials about the images in May 2011, months after their discovery.

A diocese-commissioned independent investigation said diocesan officials conducted “a limited and improperly conceived investigation” into whether a single image, which the vicar general did not see, constituted child pornography. The diocese’s legal counsel also said that that single image did not constitute child pornography.

Further investigation revealed that the photos had been taken in and around churches where the priest had worked. In 2012, Father Ratigan was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison on child pornography charges.

Bishop Finn was sentenced to two years’ probation for failing to report suspected abuse.

The diocese settled two lawsuits from the parents of two girls photographed by Fr. Ratigan for a total of $1.8 million in February 2014.

The Father Ratigan case has also triggered further legal action from an arbitrator who levied a $1.1 million penalty against the diocese, on the grounds that the diocese violated the terms of a 2008 abuse lawsuit settlement in which Bishop Finn and the diocese agreed to report suspected child abusers to law enforcement.

The diocese objected to the arbitrator’s penalty, but it was upheld in court and the diocese paid the fine

Pope Francis Accepts Resignation of Bishop Robert Finn | Daily News | NCRegister.com

Bishop asks collar-wearing clergy to rally at city meeting | National Catholic Reporter

Bishop Finn in conflict with one of his urban parishes.  Bishop calls Catholic clergy to be on his side.

Kansas City, Mo.

The bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., who hopes to raze a former parish school and build a faith-based dormitory on that ground, has invited all the priests and deacons of his diocese to appear at a city planning meeting to show support for his plan.

“If you attend it would certainly be appropriate for you to wear your collar,” Bishop Robert Finn tells the clergy in a letter dated March 13 and sent as an attachment to emails on Friday.

The City Plan Commission meets Tuesday, March 17 at 9:30 a.m.

Finn writes that he anticipates opposition to the plan to build the Bellarmino Catholic Student Center, which would include meeting and activity rooms for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, a Catholic evangelical outreach ministry known as FOCUS, and dorm rooms for up to 237 area college students. The school building, which was closed several years ago, would have to be torn down.

In his March 13 letter to diocesan clergy, Finn writes “This letter is a sincere request for your prayers and presence as we face a difficult challenge to our efforts to provide Campus Ministry and a Catholic Housing opportunity for students at University of Missouri, Kansas City.”

 

“We have had many, many meetings with neighborhood groups and others who have their own designs on our property,” the bishop’s letter says. “Though we have modified our plan significantly in response to their suggestions, they remain vocal in their opposition.”

“We ask for as many of our Priests and Deacons as possible to be present at the meeting and support the Diocese's plan. If you attend it would certainly be appropriate for you to wear your collar.”

Members of St. Francis Xavier Parish tell a slightly different story. They had hoped to work with neighborhood groups to take advantage of the existing building and its location, seeing it as an opportunity to unite the east and west sides of Troost Avenue, a street considered a racial and economic dividing line in Kansas City's urban core.

Nearly two years ago, parishioners and a neighborhood group, the 49/63 Neighborhood Coalition, worked with an architectural firm, BNIM, to carry out a needs assessment of the area. The result was a 19-page plan that made several suggestions for the existing building, such as a parochial or charter school, space for adult education, a child development center, community gardens, assisted living housing, an event space, and more.

While all these ideas included financial planning and options for hosting FOCUS groups, the bishop shot down each proposal because, according to parishioner Ken Spare, Finn said the ideas did not meet the broader mission of the diocese.

Furthermore, the only changes the developer made to the plan, according to parishioners and neighborhood groups has been to reduce the number of floors and dorm rooms.

"We met several times [to discuss proposals], and the bishop clearly said he was only interested in the Catholic student housing project," said Spare.

"For a project that is supposed to be about ministry, worship, and a refuge of light in a world of sin, it is surprising that there is so little consideration given to the needs of the church next door," said Les Cline, president of the 49/63 Neighborhood Coalition.

"What few people on the other side of this debate don't appreciate is that we community people have worked very seriously, earnestly and sincerely with the four criteria the bishop set about this project," he added. "We agreed to these principles. Now, I want to tell the bishop to live up to his own standards. We are holding fast to them."

The diocese’s dormitory plan would cost about $15 million-$16 million and would be funded through bonds.

Bishop asks collar-wearing clergy to rally at city meeting | National Catholic Reporter

Pope meets with Chile bishop amid outcry over appointment | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

 

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis met Friday with the bishop running a Chilean diocese where there has been unprecedented opposition to the nomination of his successor, accused of covering up for Chile’s most notorious pedophile.

The Vatican released no details of Francis’ audience with Monsignor Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib, who has been running the Osorno diocese temporarily since its previous bishop was transferred in 2013.

In January, Francis appointed Bishop Juan Barros Madrid to take over permanently. But in the ensuing weeks, some 1,300 lay faithful from Osorno, 51 of Chile’s 120 national lawmakers and many of the 35 priests from the diocese urged Francis to rescind the appointment.

They have accused Barros of covering up for the Rev. Fernando Karadima, a prominent priest sanctioned by the Vatican in 2011 for sexually abusing minors.

A criminal complaint against Karadima was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired, but the Chilean judge handling the case determined the abuse allegations were truthful.

Barros had been close to Karadima, and some of Karadima’s victims have accused him of defending the priest against their claims of abuse. Barros has not responded to the accusations; the issue is likely to come to a head before the planned March 21 ceremony in which he is to be formally installed as bishop of Osorno.

The Barros case is being watched as a test case for Francis on the question of holding accountable bishops who covered up for pedophiles. Francis has already sent a Vatican investigator to the U.S. diocese of Kansas City, where Bishop Robert Finn pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failing to report a priest who had child pornography on his computer.

But the Vatican has taken no action against Finn, and no bishop has ever been publicly sanctioned for having covered up for an abuser.

Members of Francis’ sex abuse advisory commission have said holding bishops accountable is one of their priorities, and that they are drafting proposals for Francis to consider for sanctioning compromised bishops.

Pope meets with Chile bishop amid outcry over appointment | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Catholic Church excommunicates woman who tried to become a priest | Christian News on Christian Today

 

Georgia Walker, a Kansas City woman, who participated in a simulated ordination to become a Roman Catholic priest on January 3, has been excommunicated by the Church, according to the Huffington Post.

Bishop Robert W Finn, of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City, sent a letter on January 7 informing Walker of her automatic excommunication due to her participation of a ceremony not recognised by the Vatican.

Walker expected the excommunication before she participated in the ceremony. In an interview with the Huffington Post, she reiterated the consequences she will face.

"What the official church does to me is not relevant," she told HuffPost shortly after her ordination ceremony. "They can't take away my baptism, they can't take away my calling to the priesthood. All they can do is deny me their sacraments."

She also told KCTV5 her sentiments in participating in the ceremony. "The people that are doing the excommunication, they're simply following church law. That's just the way it is and I would like to see the law changed," she said.

"I want it to be more inclusive. I want it to welcome everybody to the table," Walker said.

In the statement released by the diocese to KCTV5, the diocese denies the ordination of Walker stating that priesthood is passed down through bishops and can only be conferred to men. Walker satisfies neither requirement.

The statement is in line with Pope Francis's Apostolic exhortation.  In "Evangelii Gaudium", he says that, "The reservation of the priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion," and further that on this question, "The Church has spoken and says 'no' ... that door is closed."

The diocese said: "We certainly agree with Pope Francis on the importance of increasing women's roles in leadership in the Church. In this diocese, women serve as directors of diocesan offices, members of the diocesan finance council, heads of schools and charitable agencies and numerous other leadership roles. Ordination, while restricted to men, does not signify superiority, as the Pope has said."

Walker expressed her disappointment with the excommunication but added that she had expected the outcome as it follows the letter of Canon Law. 

Meanwhile, Walker sent KCTV5 and Huffington Post a statement on her plans for the future, saying she intends to form an "intentional, inclusive Roman Catholic community" with anyone interested in participating in weekly liturgies.

"This type of worship community will be egalitarian, non-hierarchical and all will be free to actively participate in the worship, service and governance. All will be welcome at the table," she said.

She added that the Association of Roman Catholic Woman Priests had no plans to stop what it's doing in trying to push the Church in a new direction with "full participation for women and all other persons marginalised by the Church".

"I am a part of that prophetic movement. I have been ordained by a bishop who has been ordained in apostolic succession and I plan to serve in the role of priest as a facilitator of worship for those who feel excluded from the traditional Roman Catholic Church," she concluded. 

Catholic Church excommunicates woman who tried to become a priest | Christian News on Christian Today

We'd rather not hear from last year's bad newsmakers | Feature | The Pitch

 

A new year should be a new beginning. But 2014's baggage weighs heavy as we try to push into 2015.

So we've made a list — a special list, a wish list — of the people and organizations we'd love to leave in the past. It's not that the inept, the perverse and the just plain mean don't sometimes amuse us. And we aren't saying we'll never forgive certain corrupt or morally suspect people. It's just that we'd rather they went away and let the healing begin. We know that most of them won't oblige us, but we're determined to start 2015 fresh anyway by saying our own goodbyes to these 2014 bums and bummers.

---

Bishop Robert Finn

If you work for a Catholic institution in northwest Missouri, you report to the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic official to be convicted in a sex-abuse scandal: Bishop Robert Finn. This is a man who, when presented with evidence that a priest in his diocese had a laptop containing hundreds of pornographic images of underage girls, elected to reassign the priest to a convent rather than report his criminal behavior to authorities. When the truth came out, Finn was found guilty of a misdemeanor for failing to report child abuse and was sentenced to two years' probation.

It's shocking enough that a man who shielded a pedophile from the law could be in charge of any organization. But for Finn to still be leading the Diocese of Kansas City–St. Joseph — an entity already stained by decades of sexual-abuse allegations, for which it has paid out millions of dollars in settlements to victims — is mind-boggling.

And Finn is still doing terrible things. He fired Colleen Simon, a food-pantry coordinator at St. Francis Xavier Church, after a Kansas City Star story about Troost's revitalization mentioned in passing that Simon is a lesbian. (Simon has since filed a lawsuit against Finn and the diocese.)

There are indications that Finn may not last much longer at his post. The Vatican is reportedly conducting an internal investigation of Finn. Cardinal Sean O'Malley, a close aide to Pope Francis, appeared on 60 Minutes in November and declared that the Finn situation was something the Pope needed to "address urgently." Meanwhile, our hands are hovering over our keyboards, waiting to type the word "former" in front of "Bishop Robert Finn" someday.

Read about other issues in Missouri:  We'd rather not hear from last year's bad newsmakers | Feature | The Pitch

Reflections on my ’60 Minutes’ interview | Crux

 

 

By Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley

The Pilot November 19, 2014

Last Sunday evening I was privileged to be featured on the CBS television program “60 Minutes,” which is actually three 20 minute segments. I was featured in segment two of the broadcast. The whole experience was fascinating. I was very impressed by the entire team, their work ethic, professionalism and dedication. Those 20 minutes are distilled out of many hours of hard work. Correspondent Norah O’Donnell and producers Frank Devine and Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson are all Catholics. Their faith and their regard for the Church was evident. Frank is a very well-informed Catholic who can engage in theological debate about “internal form” or any aspect of the life of the Church.

From the beginning of the process I was aware that the questions would not be about the weather and the Red Sox. The program’s interviews include difficult questions that are often on many people’s minds. For some people, being featured on 60 Minutes would be exhilarating, but television interviews are not at the top of my list of favorite things to do. Newscasts these days can be about sound bites and quick messaging. In contrast, 60 Minutes does a good job of trying to go deeper into the topics they address. My interview touched on three provocative issues that are seldom addressed by members of the hierarchy, but which once raised capture everyone’s attention. These matters call for more time and consideration than can be given in a 20 minute broadcast segment.

Not surprisingly, Norah asked a question about Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of St. Joseph-Kansas City and accountability. While it is the case that the sexual abuse policies adopted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops would preclude someone convicted of not reporting a crime from teaching religious education or having any position supervising children, some of the advance reporting about this matter did not reflect the nuances of my answer to the question. In response to Norah, I said that the Vatican must attend to this situation. The Holy Father is aware of this need, and recently an Episcopal Visitator was sent to Bishop Finn’s diocese. The Holy See had the sensitivity to send a Canadian bishop to conduct the visitation.

One of the significant concerns of the members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Children, on which I serve as President, is the accountability of bishops. We are all aware that Catholics want their leaders to be held accountable for the safety of children, but the accountability has been sporadic. We need clear protocols that will replace the improvisation and inertia that has often been the response in these matters. Bishops also deserve due process that allows them to have an opportunity for a fair hearing. The situation in the Diocese of St. Joseph-Kansas City is a painful one; we pray that the visitation will help. After all that American Catholics have been through in the past decade, survivors and the community at large understandably are demanding transparency and accountability. As a Church, the safety of children must be our priority. At the same time, we need to provide justice for all and avoid crowd-based condemnations.

Another topic that has garnered much attention is the recent visitation of Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) and the communities of religious women. These were two different activities, conducted by distinct Roman congregations. I trust that there were serious concerns that gave rise to the visitations, but it would seem that better planning and a wider participation of American religious and U.S. bishops would have been helpful. The Church personnel who carried out these assignments have done an admirable job under very difficult circumstances. Unfortunately, many religious women have been alienated by the process and the bishops in this country have been blamed for shortfalls in communications and the process. Hopefully when the final report of the visitations is presented, it will be a more positive experience that will contribute to healing in our Church and be helpful for the cause of religious life. The upcoming Year of Consecrated Life called for by Pope Francis will be an opportunity to celebrate the great achievements of our religious and introduce a new generation of Catholics to consecrated life and its many opportunities to accomplish good works in the name of the Church.

A topic also of significant concern in the Church that was addressed during the interview is the discussion concerning the ordination of women to the priesthood. This is particularly painful to many Catholic women who feel that the teaching on women’s ordination is a rejection and unfair.

Throughout history, many wonderful Catholic women have wished to be priests, among them St. Therese, the Little Flower. In my comments I was trying to communicate that women are often holier, smarter and more hard-working than men, and that the most important member of the Church is a woman, the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Church is called to be faithful to Christ’s will, and that is not always easy or popular. Understanding the Church’s teaching is always a process that begins with faith.

As a person who is just an occasional viewer of television, I am amazed to learn of the number of people who watch 60 Minutes each week; this is certainly a credit to the quality of the program. I hope that one take-away from my 60 Minutes interview will be that cardinals, bishops and priests are human, and that we love the Church.

 

Reflections on my ’60 Minutes’ interview | Crux

Group Fighting Sexual Abuse Says Bishop Finn May Survive Scandal - KMBZ

 

The Kansas City-St Joseph Diocese was referenced in a segment on "60 Minutes" this past Sunday. Bishop Robert Finn has remained in service, despite repeated calls for him to step down.
David Clohessy, national director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), says after the program he had a flood of calls from Catholics here and other areas encouraged that the Pontiff will remove Finn, but he says even that wouldn't be a cure all.
"Even if Finn is removed, that's no tremendous sign of progress because there are literally hundreds of Catholic officials around the world still on the job, who have done what Finn did, and not been criminally convicted," said Clohessy.
Finn was criminally convicted in 2012 of failure to report suspected child abuse in the Shawn Ratigan case. Ratigan is serving 50 years in federal prison on a child pornography conviction.

Group Fighting Sexual Abuse Says Bishop Finn May Survive Scandal - KMBZ

Cardinal O’Malley’s warning shot about Bishop Finn is just the start (ANALYSIS) - Religion News Service

 

…In September, Francis also sent a Canadian archbishop to investigate Finn, which is seen as a prelude to Finn’s possible dismissal, and senior Vatican officials have said such a dismissal would be justified.

Earlier this month, the Vatican issued a statement clarifying when and why bishops must resign or retire, but also stressing that the pope “may consider it necessary to ask a bishop to present the resignation of his pastoral office, after letting him know the motives for such a request and after listening attentively to his justifications, in fraternal dialogue.”

Essentially, Francis is putting underperforming bishops on notice.

But some church leaders still want further clarity, and a better system. In September, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan said Francis needed to find “some way of putting teeth” into a process for punishing bishops that go beyond “fraternal exhortations” delivered by back channels.

“I would find it immensely helpful and see it as part of Pope Francis’ long-range plan to flesh out how bishops can hold one another more accountable,” Dolan told the Catholic news site Crux…..

Click on the following to read the entire article:  Cardinal O’Malley’s warning shot about Bishop Finn is just the start (ANALYSIS) - Religion News Service

Cardinal O'Malley: Vatican must 'address urgently' the Bishop Finn problem. | Commonweal Magazine

 

…“It’s a question that the Holy See needs to address urgently,” O’Malley told O'Donnell. Does the pope understand that? she asked. “There’s a recognition...from Pope Francis,” O'Malley replied. The cardinal also acknowledged that, owing to Finn's conviction, the bishop would not even be allowed to teach Sunday school.

In September, the National Catholic Reporter broke the news that the Vatican had sent Archbishop Terrance Prendergast of Ontario to Kansas City to investigate Finn, after the bishop's former chancellor (who is now posted in Chicago) asked the Congregation for Bishops to intervene (I covered some of this here). That seemed to confirm speculation that Finn was one of the three bishops Pope Francis revealed was under investigation back in May. At that time, the pope said that one of the three had "already been found guilty, and we are now considering the penalty to be imposed." As head of the Vatican's new sexual-abuse commission, and as one of the pope's closest advisers, Cardinal O'Malley is part of that "we."

John Allen has issued a predictable note of caution not to overinterpret O'Malley's remarks. "Don’t expect O’Malley to do this all the time," Allen writes. "He’s not an exhibitionist or a grandstander, and aides say he has no intention of becoming a moderate version of Cardinal Raymond Burke"--who rarely passes on an opportunity to ding Pope Francis's approach to church governance. Allen is right. It wasn't as though O'Malley volunteered that Finn had to be dealt with. O'Donnell had to prompt the cardinal to say that Pope Francis is aware of the problem. But that does not diminish the significance of the cardinal's remarks….

Read more by clicking on the following:  Cardinal O'Malley: Vatican must 'address urgently' the Bishop Finn problem. | Commonweal Magazine

O'Malley: Pope recognizes need to address Bishop Finn situation | National Catholic Reporter

 

…Speaking in a forthcoming interview with the U.S. television program 60 Minutes, O'Malley says the situation surrounding Finn is "a question that the Holy See needs to address urgently."

"There's a recognition of that -- from Pope Francis," O'Malley continues during the interview, which is to air Sunday evening.

CBS made a preview of the interview available online Friday.

During the interview, O'Malley is apparently speaking of his work on both the Council of Cardinals and the pope's new commission on the sexual abuse of minors. After interviewer Norah O'Donnell says one of the "biggest scandals" of the church in recent years is the way bishops handled priests accused of abuse, O'Malley says that is something he is working on.

"One of the first things that we came up was the importance of accountability and we're looking at how the church can have protocols and how to respond when a bishop has not been responsible for protection of children in his diocese," O'Malley states.

Finn, who has served as the bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., since 2005 was found guilty over his handling of sexual misconduct by Shawn Ratigan, a former priest who was found guilty in federal court in September 2013 of producing child pornography and sentenced to 50 years in jail.

Click on the following for more detail:   O'Malley: Pope recognizes need to address Bishop Finn situation | National Catholic Reporter

Francis codifies pope's ability to effectively fire bishops | National Catholic Reporter

 

Pope Francis has codified his ability to effectively fire Catholic bishops, saying that in some circumstances, he "can consider it necessary" to ask them to resign their offices.

The move, which the Vatican announced Wednesday, seems to be an attempt by Francis to clear up any ambiguity about the pontiff's power to replace prelates around the world. While Francis and his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, have effectively removed bishops in the past, their power to do so was not previously so explicit in the church's laws.

Wednesday's change comes in a short edict approved Monday by Francis at the request of Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state. Composed of seven short articles, the edict addresses the resignation of diocesan bishops and papal appointees.

Concerning resignations at the pope's request, the edict states: "In some particular circumstances, the competent authority can consider it necessary to ask a bishop to present his resignation from pastoral office, after having made known the reasons for the request and listening carefully to the reasons, in fraternal dialogue."

The competent authority in such an instance would seem to be only the pope, who is ultimately the only person responsible for appointing bishops.

Read more of the article by clicking on the following:  Francis codifies pope's ability to effectively fire bishops | National Catholic Reporter

Kansas City priest sees Vatican investigation of Bishop Finn as 'positive'

 

Brian Roewe | Oct. 1, 2014

 

A Canadian archbishop visited the Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese last week on behalf of the Vatican to investigate the leadership of Bishop Robert Finn, the first Catholic prelate to be found criminally guilty of shielding a priest in the ongoing clergy sexual abuse crisis.

Ottawa, Ontario, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast visited the Midwestern diocese for several days last week, interviewing more than a dozen people about Finn's leadership, several of those interviewed told NCR.

According to those who spoke with Prendergast, the main question he asked was: "Do you think [Finn] is fit to be a leader?"

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The communications officer for the Ottawa archdiocese, Sarah Du Broy, said the archdiocese did not a have comment as "the Archbishop considers it a private visit."

The director of the Kansas City diocese's communications office, Jack Smith, originally told NCR that no one in the diocese had heard of Prendergast's visit. Smith then wrote in an email to NCR later Monday that Finn had been aware that Prendergast was in Kansas City.

"He cooperated with the process and was obligated by the terms of the visitation not to speak of it to anyone, including his senior staff and communications director," Smith wrote.

Smith said Finn is currently in Rome for deacon ordinations of several of the diocese's seminarians studying at the Pontifical North American College.

Prendergast, according to those who spoke to him, said he was visiting the diocese on behalf of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, which makes recommendations to the pope on the appointment of bishops around the world.

Finn, who has led the Kansas City diocese since 2005, has come under sustained criticism in the diocese, especially following his conviction in September 2012 of a misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse in the case of a now-former diocesan priest who was producing child pornography.

An investigation of a diocese by another bishop, known formally as a visitation, normally occurs when the pope or one of the Vatican's congregations have concerns about the leadership of the diocese.

A former chancellor of the Kansas City diocese also confirmed to NCR Monday the ongoing investigation, saying he had helped in an effort to have a Vatican review of Finn's leadership.

Jude Huntz, who served as the diocese's second-in-command from 2011 until last month, said he had given advice to several Kansas City-area Catholics who wanted to write to the Vatican's apostolic nuncio in Washington expressing concerns about Finn.

"I hope that there is a leadership change in the diocese of Kansas City St-Joseph," said Huntz, who now serves as the director of the Chicago archdiocese's Office for Peace and Justice. "And that's been my hope for quite some time."

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/kansas-city-priest-sees-vatican-investigation-bishop-finn-positive

Letter calls upon Pope Francis to investigate Kansas City bishop

Brian Roewe | Aug. 25, 2014

A judge's recent affirmation that the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese pay $1.1 million for breaching abuse settlement terms has led a retired Milwaukee priest to again request that the pope initiate a penal process investigating Bishop Robert Finn for violations of church law.

In a letter dated Aug. 21, Fr. James Connell, a canon lawyer, wrote to Pope Francis to inform him of recent developments that "solidify the need for a penal process in this matter."

"It just struck me that it would be wise to get it documented that further court actions confirmed Finn being wrong with the way he handled things and the church really ought to be doing something about that," Connell told NCR.

On Aug. 14, Jackson County Circuit Judge Bryan E. Round upheld an arbitrator's March decision that the diocese violated five of 19 nonmonetary terms included as part of a 2008 settlement with 47 clergy abuse survivors. Both Round and arbitrator Hollis Hanover ordered the diocese to pay $1.1 million in damages. Spokesman Jack Smith confirmed to NCR the diocese would not appeal the decision.

The plaintiffs who brought the case to arbitration specifically pointed to Finn's and the diocese's failure to report former priest Shawn Ratigan when it first learned he possessed child pornography. In September 2012, Finn was convicted of a misdemeanor for failing to report suspected child abuse. Ratigan, who is serving a 50-year prison sentence, was laicized in January.

 

"The Arbitrator's Order, now confirmed by Judge Round," Connell wrote in the letter, "establishes that not only did Bishop Finn not report an allegation of sexual abuse of minors by one of his priests to civil authorities as required by Missouri law and for which Bishop Finn was found guilty of a crime ... in so doing Bishop Finn also violated the 2008 settlement agreement and has demonstrated that Bishop Finn and the Diocesan leadership have placed the importance of protecting clergy from criminal prosecution over that of protecting children from sexual abuse."

In early February, Connell sent a first letter and additional documents to Rome on behalf of a group of Kansas City Catholics asking for a canonical review of Finn. He based the request on two canons -- 1389 and 1399 -- and said "this lack of action by the Catholic Church to do justice and repair scandal contributes to the ongoing scandal among the faithful that is a result of the Catholic clergy sexual abuse crisis."

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the U.S., confirmed Feb. 15 he received the letter and passed it on to Rome. Connell also mailed copies to Finn and St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson. Connell said he wrote Viganò a few months later asking for an update but received no reply.

In the latest four-page letter, the Milwaukee priest reiterated that while secular courts have found Finn in violation of civil law and breach of a settlement, the church has yet to act on possible violations of church law. He contends that by not reporting Ratigan to civil authorities, Finn in fact violated ecclesiastical law in addition to Missouri law.

Read more by clicking on the following:  http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/letter-calls-upon-pope-francis-investigate-kansas-city-bishop

Petition to reinstate fired KC pantry director met by security guards

group of about 30 people carried a copy of an online petition with more than 32,000 signatures asking that Bishop Finn apologize to Colleen Simon -- a woman dismissed from her parish position after her same-sex marriage was inadvertently made public by a local newspaper -- and to give her job back.

The group made their way into the first set of doors at the chancery before two security guards for the building blocked them from entering farther.

According to Georgia Walker, organizer of the Faithful America petition, the group prayed and sang in the lobby as they waited for a representative from the diocese to receive the petition. After calling several offices, she said a summer intern came to collect the petition. Walker said in an email to NCR that as she left police arrived, reportedly at the diocese’s request, to break up an “unauthorized protest.”

Read more by clicking on the following:  http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/petition-reinstate-fired-kc-pantry-director-met-security-guards

Woman in same-sex marriage sues Missouri diocese following dismissal from parish position

A Missouri woman who is civilly married to a female Lutheran minister has sued Bishop Robert Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph after she was dismissed from her position as her parish’s coordinator of social ministry.

Colleen Simon said that she told both the current and former pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church, a Jesuit parish in Kansas City, that she was part of a same-sex marriage, and neither objected. After her relationship was discussed in a local newsmagazine, she was dismissed, the Kansas City Star reported.

Simon, whose same-sex marriage ceremony took place in Iowa, is a convert from Catholicism to Lutheranism.

“As needed, we will defend our constitutional freedom to practice our faith and uphold the integrity of our mission and public witness,” the diocese said in a statement.

For more details go to:  http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=22071

KC diocese settles 2 lawsuits for $1.2 million - SFGate

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lawsuits stemming from the actions of a priest who took pornographic photographs of young parishioners have resulted in nearly $4 million in settlements by the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, after Jackson County judges approved the latest two deals this week.

Circuit Judge Jack Grate on Friday approved a $1.275 million settlement in a case filed by two parents on behalf of their minor daughter against the diocese, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan and Bishop Robert Finn, The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/OmYWoQ) reported. Two days earlier, Circuit Judge Jim Kanatzar approved a $525,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed last year against the same three defendants by two parents and their minor daughter.

Including two lawsuits it settled last year for nearly $2 million, the diocese now has agreed to pay $3.75 million so far in cases involving Ratigan, with two more lawsuits still pending.

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  KC diocese settles 2 lawsuits for $1.2 million - SFGate

Apostolic nuncio confirms receipt of Bishop Finn appeal | National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe  |

Catholics here received notification Friday from the apostolic nuncio to the U.S. that he had received and forwarded to the Vatican their formal request for a canonical penal process investigating Finn, bishop of the Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese.

In his brief, two-sentence letter, dated Feb. 15, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano stated, "I acknowledge receipt of your letter of February 11, 2014 addressed to me. The correspondence which you sent has been forwarded to the Holy See."

In mid-February, the group, in tandem with Fr. Jim Connell, a retired Milwaukee priest and canon lawyer, made the appeal outlining their case that Finn violated church law by not promptly reporting suspicions of child sexual abuse by Fr. Shawn Ratigan. In such a scenario, it states, canon law gives the pope authority to investigate a prelate and, when necessary, enact a "just penalty."

Click on the following for more details:  Apostolic nuncio confirms receipt of Bishop Finn appeal | National Catholic Reporter