UNITED STATES
New Jersey Newsroom
Sunday, 09 September 2012
BY PAT SUMMERS
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
COMMENTARY
This week’s news highlighted two different states and two different states of mind within leaders of the American Catholic Church. Both cases involved “canon law” — the body of laws and regulations governing the organization and its members.
In Connecticut, the Archbishop of the Hartford diocese came down hard on Michael DeVito, a priest who last month had participated in his cousin’s same-sex marriage. In Missouri, the bishop of the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese got a slap on the wrist after being indicted last year on a charge of failing to protect children.
Canon law was cited in both cases. In Connecticut, it gave the archbishop reason for reprimanding the priest, who had worn his Roman collar and done a reading at the wedding, according to the Hartford Courant. Same sex marriages are contrary to Catholic teaching.
In Missouri, the bishop had violated both canon law and civil law in not reporting the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who was found to have hundreds of images of child pornography on his computer. For five months, Finn had protected and covered up for the priest, who took photographs that included a girl’s “naked vagina, upskirt images and images focused on the crotch,” according to the New York Times.
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