UNITED STATES
Washington Post
Vatican accepts resignation of Kansas [City] bishop convicted of sex abuse coverup but remained in office
By Michelle Boorstein April 21
The Vatican on Tuesday announced the resignation of a Kansas bishop who was convicted of a sex abuse cover-up but remained in office – a fact that particularly horrified abuse survivors and their advocates. Bishop Robert Finn’s resignation will be seen as a key achievement for Pope Francis, who has said his papacy would show more accountability for abuse within the church.
The Vatican announced the resignation of Finn, 62, in an unspecific, brief note in its daily bulletin:
“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,” it read. Vatican Radio said the bulletin cited canon law 401, paragraph 2, which reads:
“A diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office.”
Particularly outspoken about Finn was Marie Collins, who sits on Francis’ advisory commission on abuse. Collins and others have helped keep Finn in the spotlight as a powerful symbol of what critics see as the church’s lack of accountability. He was the only U.S. bishop to be criminally convicted in an abuse cover-up. He received two years of probation in 2012 for not telling authorities after a computer technician found hundreds of images of child pornography on a priest’s laptop and told Finn. Finn remained in office for three more years.
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