Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph appears during a bench trial Sept. 6, 2012 at the Jackson County Courthouse in Kansas City, Mo.Tammy Ljungblad—AP
The Vatican’s announcement that Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, Missouri, was just one line, released in Tuesday’s daily press bulletin. The only reason given was a provision of canon law that allows bishops to resign early due to illness or another grave cause. But everybody knew the real punch: this was the first time a pope took public action against a priest who covered up sexual abuse.
Today’s Francis fever and sky-high favorability ratings makes it easy to forget just how deeply the story of priestly sexual abuse has defined the Catholic Church in recent decades. The legacy of the scandals in the United States alone is beyond weighty — a 2004 USCCB report detailed the severity of the crisis nationwide — more than 4,000 priests faced more than 10,000 allegations of child sexual abuse from 1950-2002, with half the alleged victims between the ages of 11-14. Dioceses have shelled out millions, and in some cases hundreds of millions, of dollars to settle cases.
For many victims and Vatican watchers, Tuesday’s announcement was a long time in coming, especially since Francis made it clear from the beginning that his papacy would have a zero-tolerance policy. In February 2014, Catholics petitioned Pope Francis to take disciplinary action against Finn. Pope Francis launched an investigation into Finn in September, and in November, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, who leads the Church sex abuse commission, said that the Vatican needed to “urgently” address Finn’s case. This past weekend, Irish abuse survivor and member of the sex abuse commission Marie Collins told the Catholic news site Crux, “I cannot understand how Bishop Finn is still in position, when anyone else with a conviction that he has could not run a Sunday school in a parish. He wouldn’t pass a background check.”
It is one thing for Francis to accept the resignation of a bishop who mishandled abuse allegations. It is another for him to appoint and defend one who has long been associated with similar scandal. Protests erupted in January when Francis announced he was appointing Bishop Juan Barros to lead a Chilean diocese. Barros has long been accused of covering up the sexual abuse committed by his mentor, Rev. Fernando Karadima, whom the Vatican found guilty of in 2011. Members of the sex abuse commission have been speaking out in concern in this case as well. “It goes completely against what he (Francis) has said in the past about those who protect abusers,” Collins told the AP last month. “The voice of the survivors is being ignored.”
The lesson of Kansas City is that the Vatican takes covering up abuse seriously. Chile is the next test.
The Most Surprising Photos of Pope Francis
The wind lifts Pope Francis' mantle as he delivers his speech in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, on Sept. 26, 2015.Tony Gentile—APPope Francis looks at the Statue of Liberty from the window of a helicopter on his way to the John F. Kennedy International Airport, in New York City, on Sept. 26, 2015.L'Osservatore Romano/APA Pope Francis mannequin rides around in a car in Times Square as New York City waits for the arrival of the Pope to the city, on Sept. 24, 2015.Timothy A. Clary—AFP/Getty ImagesKaydn Dorsey, 4, and Lionel Perkins, 4, draw on a coloring sheet bearing the image of Pope Francis as they wait for him to arrive on a visit to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington in Washington, on Sept. 24, 2015.David Goldman—ReutersNuns with the Hospitaler Sisters of Mercy in Pleasantville, N.J., pose for a selfie with a cutout of Pope Francis, at the World Meeting of Families conference, in Philadelphia, on Sept. 22, 2015. Matt Rourke—APPope Francis blows out the candles of a birthday cake to celebrate his 78th birthday during a general audience at the Vatican on Dec. 17, 2014. Osservatore Romano/AFP/Getty ImagesPaying the bill at Rome's Domus Internationalis Paulus VI hotel, where Pope Francis stayed as a cardinal before entering the conclave and being elected pope.Osservatore Romano/APWelcoming Pope emeritus Benedict XVI as he returns to the Vatican from the pontifical summer residence of Castel Gandolfo.Osservatore Romano/APHolding a disabled child after celebrating Easter Mass.Alessandro di Meo—ANSA/Zuma Press Pope Francis masks in a factory in Brazil, where the Pontiff took his first overseas trip. Christophe Simon—AFP/Getty ImagesLeading the Worldwide Eucharistic adoration at the Vatican.Alessandra Benedetti—CorbisA gust of wind blows the pope's mantle. Alessandra Tarantino—APAttending the opening of the Pastoral Convention of the Diocese of Rome. Stefano Rellandini—ReutersLeaving a welcoming ceremony at Guanabara Palace in Rio de Janeiro. Ricardo Moraes—ReutersGreeting the weekly General Audience. Stefano Rellandini—ReutersPointing to the statue of Our Lady of Aparecida from the balcony of the Aparecida basilica in Brazil. Domenico Stinellis—APA Catholic faithful in Brazil bears a sticker of Pope Francis on his forehead. Ueslei Marcelino—ReutersImages of Pope Francis projected onto screens at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. Paulo Whitaker— ReutersDeparting Rio de Janeiro. Ricardo Moraes—ReutersA stray dog walks across the stage near the altar where Pope Francis celebrates the World Youth Day's closing Mass on the Copacabana beachfront. Victor R. Caivano—APListening to confessions of young people in a park in Rio de Janeiro. L'Osservatore Romano—EPAPosing with youths in Saint Peter's Basilica.L'Osservatore Romano—EPAGreeting the faithful on a rainy day during the General Audience.Fabio Frustaci—Eidon Press/Zuma PressArriving to lead his General Audience in a firefighter's helmet.Stefano Rellandini—ReutersA quiet moment after meeting with Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo at the Vatican.Max Rossi—ReutersMarking the 110th anniversary UNITALSI, a Catholic organization dedicated to helping the sick. Francesco Zizola—NOOR for TIMEA private Audience with Russian President Vladimir Putin. L'Osservatore Romano/APKeeping warm during a General Audience. Alessandra Tarantino—APComforting a disfigured man at the end of his General Audience. Claudio Peri—EPABlessing a sick man with deformed facial features. Evandro Inetti—Zuma PressVisiting the parish of the Sant'Alfonso Maria de Liguori during the Epiphany day.L'Osservatore Romano—AFP/Getty ImagesReacting to devotees at a weekly General Audience.Alessandro Bianchi—ReutersA seagull attacks a dove released during a prayer conducted by Pope Francis.
Alessandro Bianchi—ReutersA scarf is tossed at Pope Francis by a faithful. Tony Gentile—ReutersItalian artist Mauro Pallotta's superhero rendering of Pope Francis in a street near St. Peter's Basilica.Alessandra Benedetti—CorbisBlowing a kiss to pilgrims gathered at Saint Peter's Square. Vincenzo Pinto—AFP/Getty ImagesMeeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in the private library of the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City.Vatican Pool/Contrasto/ReduxWith Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at the Vatican.Alessandra Benedetti—Vatican Pool/CorbisA wind gust lifts Pope Francis's mantle as he arrives at the traditional Washing of the Feet during Holy Thursday. Alberto Pizzoli—AFP/Getty ImagesKissing a man's at the traditional Washing of the Feet. Alberto Pizzoli—AFP/Getty ImagesVisitors take photos of Pope Francis as he speaks from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Michael Sohn—AP
