UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org
[note: This was posted before the resignations today of Archbishop John C. Nienstedt and Bishop Lee A. Piche of the St. Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese.]
Pope Francis’s removal of Bishop Robert Finn is welcome even if long overdue. But what does it mean? Is it merely an attempt to squash scandal, or does it signal a new era of bishop accountability?
To facilitate understanding of this unusual papal action, BishopAccountability.org presents this list of complicit bishops who have resigned or been removed.
The Vatican’s announcement about Finn said only that he was removed in accordance with canon 401, paragraph 2, which states: “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.” This is the same notice the Vatican has issued in the firing of other complicit bishops who have caused scandal – such as Irish bishop Brendan Comiskey, removed by Pope John Paul II in 2002, and Irish bishop Seamus Hegarty, removed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011.
What no pope has done to date is publicly confirm that he removed a culpable bishop because of his failure to make children’s safety his first priority. Pope Francis should issue such a statement about Finn. That would be unprecedented, and it would send a bracing message to bishops and religious superiors worldwide that a new era has begun.
It should be noted too that Pope Francis’s decision on Finn will add fuel to the fire in Chile; calls for the removal of Chilean bishop Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid will intensify. We hope Francis will honor the pleas of the victims of disgraced priest Fernando Karadima, of his own Commission members, and of the priests and parishioners of the Osorno diocese, and rescind this disastrous appointment immediately. If Francis means business, he must be consistent.
Bishops who resigned during the papacy of John Paul II
Brendan Comiskey, SS.CC. (Ireland) | Kurt Krenn (Austria) | Bernard Law (United States) | Ronald Mulkearns (Australia) | Alphonsus Liguori Penney (Canada) | John Aloysius Ward, O.F.M. Cap. (Wales)
Bishops who resigned during the papacy of Benedict XVI
Raymond W. Field (Ireland) | Seamus Hegarty (Ireland) | John Magee, S.P.S. (Ireland) | James Moriarty (Ireland) | Donal Brendan Murray (Ireland) | Rafael Eleuterio Rey (Argentina) | Eamonn Oliver Walsh (Ireland) | Daniel Francis Walsh (United States)
Bishops who resigned during the papacy of Francis
Robert Finn (United States) | Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano (Paraguay)
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