UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Michael Sean Winters | Apr. 21, 2015 Distinctly Catholic
The terseness of the official statement was in direct proportion to its gravity. This morning, as I do every morning, I went to the Vatican website, clicked on the daily bulletin, then clicked on rinunce e nomine and found this:
Il Santo Padre Francesco ha accettato la rinuncia al governo pastorale della diocesi di Kansas City-Saint Joseph (U.S.A.), presentata da S.E. Mons. Robert W. Finn, in conformità al can. 401 § 2 del Codice di Diritto Canonico.
There it was. The long nightmare that has engulfed the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph is over. The people of that diocese, whose numbers have shrunk by one quarter since Bishop Finn took the reins of the diocese in 2005, can now begin healing the wounds his leadership caused and, by the grace of God, rebuilding the once vibrant local church.
This is no time for popping champagne. Everything about the situation – from Bishop Finn’s authoritarian manner to his conviction for failing to report child sex abuse to the years of inaction by the Holy See – all of it is the stuff of tragedy. But, it is tragedy of a specific kind. We say that a hurricane or a tornado, a force of nature or act of God that causes great harm and suffering, is a tragedy. But, this is more of a Shakespearean tragedy in which the central character has a fatal flaw that, as the plot unfolds, brings about his ruin. In this case, the fatal flaw was hubris.
As my colleagues Joshua McElwee, Brian Roewe and Dennis Coday report, when Finn took the reins in Kansas City, he began sacking long-time staff, shut down offices he did not like, and he vowed to increase vocations. As is typical of many Midwestern dioceses, Kansas City had a long tradition of lay involvement in the workings of the diocese, dating back long before the Second Vatican Council and its emphasis on the priesthood of the baptized. That tradition was ignored. Lines were drawn between the culture of the Church and the ambient culture. One wonders if +Finn was so isolated and insulated, he even knew how damaging his “bull in a china shop” methods were. Certainly, they did not build up the unity of the local Church which must rank high on any bishops’ list of priorities. But, he did not reverse course. He did not begin consultations. He sought and received the advice of people who already agreed with him. The isolation grew. The disaffection increased. Any loss in energy or numbers could be blamed on the forces of the ambient secular culture, the lack of catechesis in the previous generation, the lack of forceful leadership by previous bishops.
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.