KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter
July 24, 2019
By Brian Roewe
Advocates for survivors of clergy sexual abuse have urged the local bishop to bar from church functions two prelates with ties to Kansas City, Missouri, who’ve been central figures in the Catholic Church’s clergy sexual abuse scandal.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) sent a letter July 5 to Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop James Johnston requesting he use a new protocol created by U.S. bishops to block resigned Bishop Robert Finn and retired Bishop Joseph Hart from ministry and all church meetings and activities.
In a separate letter addressed to Pope Francis, SNAP urged he forgo a planned trial and immediately laicize Hart, 87, who from 1978 to 2001 led the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Last year, the diocese found credible accusations he sexually abused three male minors. Additional abuse claims date back to Hart’s time as a priest in Kansas City (1956-1976). Hart has repeatedly denied the allegations.
In 2012 Finn, 66, was found guilty of a misdemeanor for failing to report suspected child abuse. He served a two-year suspended sentence, in addition to meeting monthly for five years with a county prosecutor to avoid another charge. Finn resigned in April 2015 following a Vatican investigation of the diocese.
At their June assembly, the U.S. bishops approved the “Protocol Regarding Available Non-Penal Restrictions on Bishops.” That new policy permits a diocesan bishop to take measures against a bishop emeritus whose “resignation or removal was due to the sexual abuse of a minor, sexual misconduct with an adult or grave negligence of office” regarding the sexual abuse of minors.
Among available restrictions are barring a retired bishop from public ministry — including preaching and celebrating sacraments, which can extend to hearing confessions — and limiting his benefits, such as for travel. The protocol stipulates public notice of any restrictions, as well as informing the Vatican. It can be implemented by a bishop emeritus’ successor, the bishop of the diocese where he resides or seeks to minister, or the episcopal conference.
The protocol was in part sparked by outrage a year ago to reports of credible accusations against now-former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, and whether fellow bishops knew of the allegations or any restrictions imposed on him. Before he was laicized, several bishops at their November meeting voiced that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops should censure and disinvite McCarrick from conference proceedings.
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