KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star
By JUDY L. THOMAS and LYNN HORSLEY
The Kansas City Star
In finding Bishop Robert Finn guilty on Thursday, Jackson County Circuit Judge John Torrence said he hoped his verdict could bring to a close a case that has caused upheaval in the diocese for nearly a year.
Some are ready to move ahead, but not everyone.
As the guilty verdict of Kansas City’s Catholic bishop resonated around the world Thursday, strong reaction flooded in from both supporters and critics of Finn. It showed a division that opened with pornography charges against a priest, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, in 2011.
Some called for Finn to resign.
“I think a bishop with a criminal conviction has impaired his ability to function as bishop and should consider for the good of his diocese allowing someone else to lead it,” said Nicholas Cafardi, a law professor at Duquesne University and former chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Youth. “This destroys his credibility and seriously impairs his ability to lead the diocese.”
Others, however, had sympathy for Finn.
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