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…