" Silence like a Cancer Grows"

By Don Corrigan
Webster -Kirkwood Times
January 13, 2012

http://www.websterkirkwoodtimes.com/Articles-Columnists-i-2012-01-13-178607.114137-Silence-Like-A-Cancer-Grows.html

The Penn State scandal of sexual abuse has been called a "conspiracy of silence." Too many people knew it was going on, but no one wanted to speak out. No one chose to contact law enforcement, and so the nightmarish crimes were allowed to continue.

Some readers think we have been strangely silent about a related story. That involves the criminal indictment of Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn. Finn has local connections. He served as priest in residence at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Webster Groves a decade ago.

Finn faced criminal prosecution last year for allegedly covering up information that may have prevented the sexual abuse of a minor by a priest. The story, involving child porn and other unseemly details, has been in newspapers all over the country. But it hasn't been in our weekly.

We are damned if we do, and damned if we don't, in the case of stories like that of Bishop Finn. If we publish it, we are accused of piling on and being anti-religious "like all the mainstream media." If we don't publish it, we are accused of timidity and conspiring to keep things hidden.

Some in our community describe Finn as a nice guy while he was here. At parish picnics, he volunteered for the dunking booth. Kids at Holy Redeemer loved the chance to dunk him over and over again - and he was a good sport about it.

Father Finn avoided indictment in November by entering a "five-year diversion program" with the Clay County prosecutor, according to the Kansas City Star. Under the program, Finn must produce a diocese plan to address abuse situations. He must also meet with the prosecutor monthly to discuss any allegations of child sex abuse by diocese clergy or staff.

Finn is gone from St. Louis. Is mention of his problems in Kansas City appropriate for coverage in this community weekly? Patrick Fleming, a psychotherapist who works with both predators and the abused, thinks so. He and his colleague, Sue Lauber, work out of Kirkwood and recently published a book on abuse trauma.

"By all means, please do cover the Bishop Finn story in the Times," said Fleming. "He was a prominent priest in St. Louis and Webster who appears to have made grave mistakes that endangered the young and vulnerable. He did not get a priest in his diocese the treatment and supervision that he needed.

"I think it is very important that your newspaper and other media report such stories as that of Bishop Finn and the Penn State situation," said Fleming. "Abuse happens whenever there is the intersection of power, vulnerability, sickness, and secrecy. The media for all its faults has played a vital role in bringing the issue of sexual abuse into the light for all to become more aware - and to end the secrecy that enables it."