Cardinal O’Malley: Vatican must ‘address urgently’ the Bishop Finn problem.

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Grant Gallicho November 15, 2014

Are Robert Finn’s days as bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph numbered? Judging from comments Cardinal Sean O’Malley made to 60 Minutes, it sure sounds like it. Yesterday CBS News released a preview of Norah O’Donnell’s interview with O’Malley, archbishop of Boston, in which he acknowledged that the Holy See must do something about Finn, who pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child endangerment over two years ago, and was never publicly disciplined by Benedict XVI. “It’s a question that the Holy See needs to address urgently,” O’Malley told O’Donnell. Does the pope understand that? she asked. “There’s a recognition…from Pope Francis,” O’Malley replied. The cardinal also acknowledged that, owing to Finn’s conviction, the bishop would not even be allowed to teach Sunday school.

In September, the National Catholic Reporter broke the news that the Vatican…