KANSAS CITY (MO)
USA Today
Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY April 21, 2015
Before he became one of the highest profile members of the clergy found complicit in the U.S. Catholic church’s child sex abuse scandal, Bishop Robert Finn had an impressive climb up the church’s hierarchy and established a reputation as one of the church’s most conservative voices.
On Tuesday, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had accepted Finn’s resignation, marking an end to one of the ugliest chapters in the church’s child sexual abuse scandal.
The Vatican did not explain the reason for allowing Finn to resign. He is nearly 13 years short of the normal retirement age for bishops. …
Ahead of his installation as Kansas City bishop, some priests, nuns and church members worried that he was too theologically conservative for the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese, according to news reports at the time.
Finn acknowledged that he was one of a handful of bishops in the country who belonged to the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, the organization for diocesan priest “associates” of Opus Dei, a conservative group that encourages Catholics to practice their Christian principles in their workplaces, according to the Kansas City Star.
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