VATICAN CITY
The Guardian (UK)
Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome
Tuesday 21 April 2015
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a bishop who was convicted three years ago of protecting a sexually abusive priest, the Vatican announced on Tuesday.
Robert Finn, of Kansas City diocese, had long been seen as the poster child of the Vatican’s failure to adequately address sex abuse. He was the highest ranking US church official to have been found guilty of an abuse-related crime, but had not been made by the church to suffer any consequences for that verdict.
The resignation was announced by the Holy See as Pope Francis came under intense pressure in a separate case involving Bishop Juan Barros of Chile, who has also been accused of shielding a paedophile priest.
The Vatican’s daily news bulletin, which revealed Finn’s resignation, said: “The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral government of the diocese of St Joseph-Kansas City, Mo (United States) presented His Excellency Bishop Robert Finn.”
Finn will retain the title of bishop but will no longer lead the Kansas City diocese. Such abrupt resignations are exceedingly rare. Over the past decade, only one bishop among 200 in US diocese have resigned in a similar fashion, according to the National Catholic Reporter, a media outlet which closely follows the Vatican.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.