Vatican Investigates Missouri Bishop Who Shielded Pedophile Priest

KANSAS CITY (MO)
The New York Times

By MICHAEL PAULSONSEPT. 29, 2014

The only American bishop ever convicted of shielding a pedophile priest is now under investigation by the Vatican.

The tenure of the bishop, Robert W. Finn of the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in northern and western Missouri, is being reviewed by a Canadian archbishop, Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa, at the request of Pope Francis.

Bishop Finn was convicted in 2012 of a misdemeanor for failure to report to law enforcement that a priest had taken pornographic pictures of young girls. He was sentenced to two years of probation, and this year his diocese was fined $1.1 million after an arbitrator determined that the failure to report the priest had violated terms of an earlier settlement with abuse victims.

The Vatican investigation, formally called an apostolic visitation, was first reported by The National Catholic Reporter, and was confirmed by a spokesman for Bishop Finn.

“Bishop Finn was notified of the process in advance by the apostolic nuncio,” said the spokesman, Jack Smith. The apostolic nuncio is the pope’s representative to the United States.

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