Pope accepts resignation of Bishop Finn

April 21, 2015

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-Saint Joseph, Missouri, nearly three years after the bishop was found guilty on criminal charges for failing to report sexual abuse.

Bishop Finn was the first American prelate ever convicted on criminal charges in connection with the sex-abuse scandal. His resignation could mark a turning point in the Vatican’s handling of cases in which bishops fail to discipline abusive priests.

Bishop Finn had met privately last week with Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, a spokesman for the Missouri diocese disclosed. He later met with Archbishop Carlo Vigano, the apostolic nuncio to the US, to arrange plans for his resignation.

The Vatican announced the resignation quietly, with a terse announcement on April 21 that Pope Francis had accepted the bishop’s resignation “in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.” That provision allows for the early resignation of a prelate who becomes unfit for office due to illness “or other grave reason.”

Bishop Finn issued a brief statement of his own, urging the people of the diocese to pray for the bishop who will eventually be appointed to take his place. "It has been an honor and joy for me to serve here among so many good people of faith,” he said.

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the neighboring Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, has been appointed as administrator of the Missouri diocese until a new appointment is made.

Bishop Finn’s resignation comes as the Vatican considers new policies to hold bishops accountable for their handling of sex-abuse cases. Conscious of the cynicism that has developed as the public learned how many bishops protected predatory priests and covered up evidence of abuse, Cardinal Sean O’Malley—who heads a special commission appointed by the Pope to study the issue—has called for new standards that would respond to “abuse of office” by negligent prelates.

Bishop Finn became a central focus of the debate on sexual abuse in 2011, when it emerged that he had failed to inform law-enforcement officials about pictures of small children in sexual poses, found on the computer of a troubled priest, Father Shawn Ratigan. Ratigan would eventually be convicted of child pornography, imprisoned, and laicized. But Bishop Finn’s reluctance to warn public officials about the case gave rise to broader criticism, and led to his indictment and conviction on a misdemeanor charge of endangering children. He was sentenced to two years of probation.

Last year a Vatican-appointed investigator, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa, Ontario, visited the Kansas City diocese and prepared a report for the Vatican on the damage done to Bishop Finn’s credibility. After that report reached Rome, Cardinal O’Malley told an American television audience that Bishop Finn’s continued leadership of the Missouri diocese was “a question that the Holy See needs to address urgently."

 

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Further information:

• Rinunce e nomine (Holy See Press Office)
• Pope Francis accepts resignation of KC Bishop Robert Finn (AP)
• US Bishop Finn, symbol of church's failure on sexual abuse, resigns (National Catholic Reporter)
• U.S. Catholic bishop in child pornography case resigns (Reuters)
• Pope accepts resignation of KC Bishop (KMBC)
• Vatican accepts resignation of U.S. bishop convicted of sex abuse coverup (Washington Post)
• Vatican-reform planning likely to continue into 2016 (CWN, 4/15)
• Cardinal O'Malley says Pope must take action on Bishop Finn (CWN, 11/14/14)
• Bishop Finn found guilty on criminal charge (CWN, 9/6/12)