A Tale of Two Priests Punished under Canon Law

By Pat Summers
New Jersey Newsroom
September 9, 2012

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/commentary/a-tale-of-two-priests-punished-under-canon-law


This week's news highlighted two different states and two different states of mind within leaders of the American Catholic Church. Both cases involved "canon law" — the body of laws and regulations governing the organization and its members.

In Connecticut, the Archbishop of the Hartford diocese came down hard on Michael DeVito, a priest who last month had participated in his cousin's same-sex marriage. In Missouri, the bishop of the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese got a slap on the wrist after being indicted last year on a charge of failing to protect children.

Canon law was cited in both cases. In Connecticut, it gave the archbishop reason for reprimanding the priest, who had worn his Roman collar and done a reading at the wedding, according to the Hartford Courant. Same sex marriages are contrary to Catholic teaching.

In Missouri, the bishop had violated both canon law and civil law in not reporting the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who was found to have hundreds of images of child pornography on his computer. For five months, Finn had protected and covered up for the priest, who took photographs that included a girl's "naked vagina, upskirt images and images focused on the crotch," according to the New York Times.

Nor was this Finn's first brush with civil and canon law on the subject of child abuse. Only three years ago, he "settled lawsuits with 47 plaintiffs in sexual abuse cases for $10 million and agreed to a list of 19 preventive measures, among them to immediately report anyone suspected of being a pedophile to the law enforcement authorities," the Times continued.

Seven years before that, U.S. bishops had pledged to report suspected abusers to law enforcement authorities — a policy also recommended last year by the Vatican. Bishop Finn's failure to report Father Ratigan until after a subordinate did so thus violated a procedure that had been agreed on twice in one decade.

Finn's violation could have been punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and a jail sentence of up to a year, but earlier this week, he got off with two years of court-supervised probation. A follow-up headline read, "Indicted bishop plans to continue leading diocese," but just where might the highest ranking U.S. Catholic official to be criminally charged with sheltering an abusive clergyman "lead" his diocese?

The truly ugly and drawn-out child porn case in Missouri makes the Connecticut same-sex wedding case look like a needless show of authority by the archbishop. Apparently a stickler for the rules, any rules, he couldn't find better things to do than summon Father DeVito for a formal rebuke, telling him his part in the wedding warranted a permanent mark on his record. (That's so Catholic school.)