Hope for Reform Follows Verdict

By Jesse Bogan And Tim Townsend
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
September 9, 2012

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/hope-for-reform-follows-verdict/article_ecfedfd9-70b4-5d99-b4c7-1e58fbe49d3b.html

Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph appears in court during in a bench trial Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012 at the Jackson County Courthouse in Kansas City, Mo. Following a short non-jury trial, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John Torrence convicted Finn of one misdemeanor count of failing to report suspicions of child abuse but acquitted him on another count of failing to report. (AP Photo/The Kansas City Star, Tammy Ljungblad, Pool)\

KANSAS CITY • Before a Mass started early Friday morning at St. Patrick Parish, the Rev. Justin Hoye pulled an elderly woman to the side and asked her to take her time when reading from St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians to the small congregation.

Hoye planned to frame his homily from the Bible passages.

So when it was time, the woman stood, walked to the front of the chapel, and read slowly from Scripture used worldwide Friday in Roman Catholic churches:

"It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself; I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted; the one who judges me is the Lord."

Hoye went on to preach about judgment, saying people are incapable of admitting the absolute fullness of their own sins.

What he didn't do was mention Bishop Robert Finn, shepherd of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. On Thursday, a judge in Jackson County found Finn, 59, guilty of one misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse, including the fact that Finn knew child pornography was on the computer of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who used to be pastor of St. Patrick's.

But it was clear that Hoye's caution against judgment and prayers for healing were about Finn and the wounded congregation.

"We pray that the Holy Spirit might move throughout the diocese and grant us consolation and peace," Hoye said. "We pray for the victims of injustice, those denied rights owed them."

When the service was over, parishioners were polite but not as subtle about the court ruling.

"Maybe this will get different dioceses and bishops, everybody throughout the religious world, to realize they have a responsibility to basically do what Jesus taught us and that is take care of kids, to respect other lives," said Steve Burk, 59, a retired Ford assembly line worker who attends Mass throughout the week.

Finn, a St. Louis native who was ordained in the St. Louis Archdiocese, is the first U.S. bishop convicted for failing to report criminal sexual activity by a priest.

The verdict is a landmark moment in a clergy abuse saga that has rattled the Catholic church for more than a decade.

And on Friday, Finn offered a broad condemnation of abuse, saying that 'sexual abuse of any kind will not be tolerated."

"Diocesan process and procedures in place at the time did not adequately identify the necessity to inform the Children's Division of Shawn Ratigan's behavior in a more timely manner," Finn continued. "For this I am truly sorry."

Critics of the church's handling of the sex abuse scandal say they hope the ruling will be a seminal moment that brings greater reform.

"You're tempted to think surely this will send a chill down the spine of hundreds of church employees who are concealing, or have concealed, child sex crimes," said David Clohessy, head of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "It must be unsettling to see that even a bishop can be brought to justice."

And yet, the nation's bishops weren't commenting much last week. Their designated spokesman on the issue, Joliet, Ill., Bishop Daniel Conlon, who heads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, said in a statement that the bishops "do not know the details of the Kansas City judicial proceedings."

He added that the bishops 'stand behind" the national policy the Catholic church in the U.S. adopted in 2002, which stipulates that dioceses "are to report an allegation of sexual abuse of a person who has abused a minor to the public authorities."

DIFFICULT TO ADDRESS

For some parishioners at St. Patrick's, the incident has done nothing to shake their belief.

"God is my faith," said Florence Wilbur, 79, who has attended the church for 59 years. "(Finn) is just a person."

Mary Helm, 53, a registered nurse, stuck by the bishop.

"He is a good bishop," she said. "We should try to pray for him and support him. There are a lot of people to keep track of. You can't expect absolute perfection in everybody, except for God."

Charles Lamb, 80, a former technician for Trans World Airlines, said there should be more outcries from the pulpit regarding the Finn case.

"All the priests should address this issue, probably now more than ever since the courts have decided," he said.

Lamb said he thinks there are many people who won't be satisfied until Finn is removed. "The real healing, in those people, won't take place until he either resigns or is removed," he said.

For his part, Hoye, 33, said after the service at St. Patrick: "If you ask other priests, most of us simply do not know what to say. I say that with a lot of confidence. One of the reasons we don't is because we are feeling this out, just like the community is."

He said there is a wide range of views, ranging from forgiving to livid.

"It's difficult to address all that from the pulpit," he said. "What do you do with it?"

Meanwhile, in St. Louis, where Finn grew up, reactions were muted.

St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson declined to comment, and the archdiocese referred questions to the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese.

Finn attended elementary school at All Souls Parish in Overland, and was later ordained a priest in the same church.

The Rev. Robert Burkemper, All Souls' current pastor, went to college with Finn at Cardinal Glennon College.

"The people of my parish are saddened by the news that he was convicted of this misdemeanor," Burkemper said. "But it's not something people are really talking much about."

A DEFINING CASE

Finn arrived in Kansas City from St. Louis in 2005. By 2008, he was already dealing with the diocese's abuse settlements, paying $10 million to settle abuse claims with 47 victims.

Finn apologized then for the "fully unacceptable behavior" that prompted the lawsuits and assured that new measures were in place 'so that we may be confident there will never, ever be a repeat of the behaviors."

But the crime that now will define his tenure in Kansas City occurred two years later.

In December 2010, a technician found hundreds of lewd photos of young girls on Ratigan's computer. He told diocesan officials immediately. It turned out the priest had taken most of the photos himself, and Finn had known about accusations against the priest in the past.

Ratigan attempted suicide after the diocese learned about the images on his computer and was hospitalized. Finn later assigned him to a mission house in Independence with restrictions governing his access to children. After the priest repeatedly violated those restrictions, diocesan officials reported him to the police — five months after finding the child pornography on his computer.

Ratigan, 46, pleaded guilty last month to federal child pornography charges and is awaiting sentencing. Last November, Finn dodged other charges in Clay County after agreeing to give the prosecutor's office authority for five years to review the diocese's sexual abuse reporting procedures in future allegations.

Finn's trial was due to begin at the end of September. His attorneys had argued that the bishop was innocent because he was not the diocese's mandated reporter under the law. But in a surprise announcement Wednesday, prosecutors said the bishop had chosen a bench trial instead. In June, a priest who worked as an administrator for the Philadelphia Archdiocese was sentenced to a minimum of three years in prison, after a three-month trial that garnered national headlines, for covering up the sexual abuse of minors by priests.

Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John Torrence gave Finn a suspended sentence with no jail time. If the bishop completes two years of probation and complies with Torrence's conditions, his record will be wiped clean of the conviction.

WEIGHING THE COSTS

Clohessy, of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said he doubts the ruling will trigger change. He points to a lawsuit filed last week accusing the Miami archdiocese of ignoring accusations against a priest who is still active in his parish.

"A historic development doesn't necessarily bring with it real change in such an ancient, rigid, calcified hierarchy," Clohessy said. "We want it to, but common sense and prudence tells us it's best to stay vigilant and assume that old habits die hard."

Nicholas Cafardi is a professor at Duquesne Law School in Pittsburgh and former head of the bishops' own board overseeing the reforms triggered by the abuse scandal. He said the Finn ruling was important because it was "the first conviction of a bishop for aiding child sexual abuse."

"It's a violation of criminal law, but also a violation of the law of the Roman Catholic church," Cafardi said. "That is supposed to be met with a 'just penalty.'"

Cafardi said what troubled him most about the case was that between the time Finn found out about the images on Ratigan's computer and when he reported the crime, the priest had abused another victim.

"It seems to me the bishop has to have that abuse on his own conscience," Cafardi said. "The problem is, in our church we're not very good at holding bishops to account."

The Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese has 133,000 Catholics in 98 parishes, less than a third of the size of the St. Louis Archdiocese.

The diocese's newspaper reported Wednesday that "costs related to grand jury investigations and criminal proceedings involving the Diocese and Bishop Finn" totaled $1.4 million.

Michael Halterman, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities in the diocese, which runs about 65 social service programs, said fundraising has taken a hit even though the nonprofit organization doesn't foot church legal bills. "We've been impacted by the legal issues of the bishop and the diocese, there's no doubt," Halterman said Friday in his Kansas City office. "Some donors said they wouldn't give to us because of those issues. There's no doubt we've felt it, and the bishop knows that. I've told him."

Jack Smith, a spokesman for the diocese, said Finn was continuing with a full schedule. The bishop led a confirmation class after he was sentenced Thursday.

"He really is focusing on doing his job," Smith said.

Outside the diocese office Friday, a handful of victims' rights advocates called on Finn to be fired.

"I'm tired of being embarrassed by the bishops," said Shirley Dobbins, 76, of Catholic social justice organization Call to Action. "I'm happy (Finn) was convicted, but I don't believe the punishment was adequate. I don't think the bishops will get it until some of them spend time in jail."

But after Mass at St. Patrick's, the Rev. Hoye said in an interview that most of his parishioners will need more time to sort through how they feel about their bishop and the verdict against him.

Again referring to St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians, he said: "Everything that is hidden will be revealed. The Lord knows all the intimate details, so some prudence is in order. That does not mean ignore the conviction on this misdemeanor, but it will take time for people to make sense of what this means for them."

jbogan@post-dispatch.com or ttownsend@post-dispatch.com