Priest Blessing Communion Wine
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Robert Finn, bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, has become the first Roman Catholic bishop indicted on criminal charges for alleged involvement in covering up and making possible the sexual abuse of children. But will he be the last? The charges against him are pretty serious and if there is a shred of truth to them, he's in a lot of trouble. Even the diocese itself has been indicted alongside Bishop Finn.
When the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, was caught up in sexual abuse scandals a few years ago, Robert Finn promised to tell authorities if any clergy were reportedly abusing children again. According to the criminal charges, though, he promptly ignored that promise and let Rev. Shawn Ratigan possess child porn, take lewd photos of girls, and have contact with children. Authorities were never notified.
The case caused an uproar among Catholics in Kansas City this year when Bishop Finn acknowledged that he knew of the photographs last December but did not turn them over to the police until May. During that time, the priest, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, is said to have continued to attend church events with children, and took lewd photographs of another young girl.
A decade ago the American bishops pledged to report suspected abusers to law enforcement authorities -- a policy also recommended last year by the Vatican. Bishop Finn himself had made such a promise three years ago as part of a $10 million legal settlement with abuse victims in Kansas City.
Though the charge is only a misdemeanor, victims' advocates immediately hailed the indictment as a breakthrough, saying that until now American bishops have avoided prosecution despite documents showing that in some cases they were aware of abuse.
"This is huge for us," said Michael Hunter, director of the Kansas City chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and a victim of sexual abuse by a priest. "It's something that I personally have been waiting for years to see, some real accountability. We're very pleased with the prosecuting attorney here to have the guts to do it." The bishop signaled he would fight the charges with all his strength. He said in a statement: "We will meet these announcements with a steady resolve and a vigorous defense."
Source: The New York Times
If he goes to trial and is convicted, Bishop Robert Finn (would he still be "bishop" then?) could be fined up to $1,000 and jailed for up to a year. The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri could be fined up to $5,000. What's more, this isn't the only legal problem facing them -- there are civil and criminal cases moving at the federal level right now.
Catholics in the diocese are outraged at what's happened -- and Finn wasn't exactly popular before because of his extreme theological conservatism. Now there are demands that the resign, though there has been no indication that he's interested in doing so. I guess the deciding factor will be whether his superiors conclude that his presence is more of an embarrassment than getting rid of him would be.
"For a bishop to be indicted is absolutely extraordinary," said the Rev. Thomas J. Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University and author of "Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church."
"This is a first. And in terms of the Catholic Church, this is an extraordinary move which is going to signal that the times have changed. Neither people nor government are going to put up with any kind of activity that looks like a cover-up."
Baker emphasized that the pursuit of the case was the result of a grand jury investigation.
"I've done my best to make sure that this was a fair process," she said. "This has nothing -- nothing -- to do with the Catholic faith. This is about the facts of the case, nothing more. This is about protecting children."
Source: Kansas City Star
As I asked when I last wrote about this case: "Do you suppose that Bishop Finn protected the pervert Ratigan because both are theologically conservative? Or maybe protecting child predators is simply in keeping with Finn's other policies, like when he cut the budget of the Office of Peace and Justice, which dealt with issues like poverty, while expanding anti-choice activism. After all, "indecent' photos of children isn't nearly as bad as abortion and contraception, right?"
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