Bishop Convicted of Failing to Report Predatory Priest Is Finally Ousted
Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn on Tuesday.
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That sigh of relief you hear is the exhalation of all the Kansas City Catholics whose titular leader for the last decade, Bishop Robert Finn, became the first U.S. bishop to be convicted of failing to report a predatory priest to the police 2 ½ years ago. Today, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had accepted Finn’s resignation.
Since September of 2012, the Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri diocese had been supervised by someone who couldn’t have taught Sunday school, because he wouldn’t have passed the required background check. And as long as Finn held on to his job, the wider church had a tough time arguing that its tough new standards on protecting children meant bishops could no longer cover up for abusive priests.