KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star
BY JUDY L. THOMAS
JTHOMAS@KCSTAR.COM AND MARK MORRIS
04/21/2015
Bishop Robert W. Finn, whose nearly 10-year tenure as leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph was marred by child sex abuse scandals, has stepped down.
Pope Francis accepted Finn’s resignation Tuesday, about a week after Finn made a short visit to Rome.
Finn offered his resignation under the code of canon law that allows bishops to resign early for illness or some “grave” reason that makes them unfit for office, the Vatican announced. The Vatican did not release a reason, if any, cited by Finn.
Finn is 62, some 13 years shy of the normal retirement age of 75.
“It has been an honor and joy for me to serve here among so many good people of faith,” Finn said in a statement released Tuesday by the diocese. “Please begin already to pray for whomever God may call to be the next bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph.”
Kansas City in Kansas Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann will serve as apostolic administrator of the Missouri diocese until a new bishop is appointed, according to an announcement by the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese.
Naumann, who was scheduled to spend Tuesday with staff at the Kansas City diocesan offices, will retain his Kansas duties.
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