http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/us/kansas-city-bishop-indicted-in-reporting-of-abuse-by-priest.html?_r=2&emc=na
http://www.kmbc.com/news/29486658/detail.html?taf=kc1
By A. G. SULZBERGER and LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: October 14, 2011
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — "The Roman Catholic bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Robert Finn, and the diocese he leads have been indicted by a county grand jury on a charge of failure to report suspected child abuse in the case of a priest who had been accused of taking lewd photographs of young girls. The indictment is the first ever of a Catholic bishop in the 25 years since the scandal over sexual abuse by priests first became public in the United States.
Bishop Finn is accused of neglecting to report abuse that occurred as recently as last year — almost 10 years since the nation’s Catholic bishops passed a charter pledging to report suspected abusers to law enforcement authorities. .."
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
It is about time the a bishop is held accountable by civil authorities. The protection of children should be a good shepherd's first priority, not protection of the institution. Yet the Vatican is pressing Maryknoll to dismiss Fr. Roy Bourgeois for his promotion of women priests, but we hear nothing from them about dismissing this priest who abused an innocent child. What would Jesus do? I think he'd be outraged as I am sure the majority of Catholics in Kansas City are.
Isn't it time for Catholics to donate dollars in support of prophetic priests, like Fr. Roy, who speak truth to power and who will be cut off, by Maryknoll? Isn't it time for Catholics to cut off their financial support from bishops like Kansas City Bishop Finn? More than ever we need married priests and women priests now and empowered, accountable faith communities who will not put up with sexual abuse cover-ups. As Vatican II reminded us the people of God are the church. Now is the time for action, people of God!
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
sofiabmm@aol.com
Living Gospel Inclusivity and Empowerment Now
What a pack of lies you promote based entirely on ecclesiastic and theological differences.
ReplyDeleteThis article does not mention that when an inappropriate image was discovered (and it was just one image, by the way, not the treasure trove of illicit images later found) that the bishop forbade the priest from ministering to children and sent him to live with religious sisters. Not one word of this is in the article! You and the article writer make it sound like he was protecting a known child abuser. There was no allegation that this priest had sexually abused a child.
"Bishop Finn, who was appointed in 2005, alienated many of his priests and parishioners, and won praise from others, when he remade the diocese to conform with his traditionalist theological views. He is one of few bishops affiliated with the conservative movement Opus Dei. "
And your bias shows.
Also... Where are your cries for justice against the school employee who failed to report this to the police?
So, Dr K, if this is just a pack of lies, why exactly was Bishop Finn indicted by a grand jury?
ReplyDeleteIf this is just a pack of lies, why do you claim the NYT article fails to state that the bishop forbade the priest from ministering to children and sent him to live with religious sisters, wheras in fact the article unequivocally states, "Bishop Finn sent Father Ratigan to live in a convent and told him to avoid contact with minors. But until May the priest attended children’s parties, spent weekends in the homes of parish families, hosted an Easter egg hunt and presided, with the bishop’s permission, at a girl’s First Communion, according to interviews with parishioners and a civil lawsuit filed by a victim’s family"?
Why did Bishop Finn pledge three years ago to report suspected abusers to law enforcement authorities as part of a $10 million legal settlement with 47 abuse victims in Kansas City?
Why did Bishop Finn, as part of that settlement, agree to a list of 19 preventive measures, among them to immediately report anyone suspected of being a pedophile to the law enforcement authorities?
Why did Bishop Finn break his own pledge?
In whose pockets did he find the $10 million legal settlement? His own? Who continues to pay for his legal expenses?
Are we really expected to believe, as Bishop Finn claims, that he failed to read the letter addressed to him by the Julie Hess, principal of the St. Patrick School, on May 19, 2010?
Why did Bishop Finn wait nine months until February 10, 2011, to assign The Rev. Shawn Ratigan to the Vicentian Mission House in Independence with restrictions on his conduct with children, but with no monitoring?
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/14/3208383/a-timeline-of-key-events-in-priest.html#ixzz1aqvap3Ga
How long will our shameless moral leaders continue to shame Christ's Church?