By Justin Kendall
The Pitch
October 19, 2011
http://www.pitch.com/plog/archives/2011/10/19/vatican-quiet-on-the-indictment-of-bishop-robert-finn-time-reports
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| The Vatican doesn't want to talk about Bishop Finn's indictment. |
We're now seeing the fallout from the indictment of Bishop Robert Finn, who's accused of failing to report suspected child sexual abuse in the Rev. Shawn Ratigan child-pornography case.
Time magazine has a fascinating look at the Vatican's reaction — or lack of reaction — to the indictment of Finn, the first bishop in the United States to be indicted for failing to report suspected abuse by a priest under his watch.
From the Time story: "The news that an American bishop had been charged with failing to report child abuse should have been colossal news in the Vatican. But the response has been as if the case is far away and far removed from the Holy See — and the papacy that is so quick to come down on questions of celibacy, women priests and the rights of gay Catholics appears to regard the American scandal, involving a priest and what seems to be child pornography, as a matter for local jurisprudence."
A Vatican spokesman declined to comment when asked about the allegations.
"There is a legal procedure under way," Vatican spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi told an Agence France-Presse reporter. "Any intervention could be interpreted as interference."
Finn was indicted on October 14 for allegedly failing in his role as a mandatory reporter of abuse.
The indictment alleges that between December 16, 2010, and May 11, 2011, Finn and the diocese had reasonable cause to suspect that a child may have been the victim of abuse "due to previous knowledge of concerns regarding Father Ratigan and children; the discovery of hundreds of photographs of children on Father Ratigan’s laptop, including a child’s naked vagina, upskirt images and other images focused on the crotch; and violations of restrictions placed on Father Ratigan."
A computer tech discovered questionable images on Ratigan's computer in December. However, the diocese didn't turn the info over to police until May.
Ratigan is facing state and federal child-pornography charges.
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