UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
“We all know there are other U.S. bishops wondering ‘who is the next?’ ” tweeted Catholic Church historian, Massimo Faggioli, after Pope Francis, likely under pressure from “low tax” US billionaire donors, “dumped” U.S. Bishop Robert Finn. Bishop Finn had became a symbol of the Vatican’s decades’ old stonewalling approach to addressing the priest child sexual abuse crisis. Paradoxically perhaps, frequent bishop defender, Bill Donohue, fairly listed today Finn’s sins, which while detestable, seem almost minor when compared to those reported reliably with respect to many other bishops in the USA and elsewhere. If Finn is sacked, how can the pope justify keeping so many others with “even dirtier hands”? What say you Pope Francis?
Yes, who is next? If the pope fails on curtailing child abuse, he becomes a US political liability, in next year’s US presidential election, for his “low tax-less regulation-least safety net” US billionaire supporters that appear to be depending on him considerably.
Finn was an easy case. Finn is the only U.S. bishop ever convicted in court of failing to report a suspected abuser he supervised, Fr. Shawn Ratigan, who was later sentenced to 50 years on federal child pornography charges. Ratigan had hundreds of lewd pictures of children from local parishes on his computer, and he attempted suicide when the diocese learned of them in 2010. But Finn waited six months to report Ratigan to authorities in violation of a local law. Finn pleaded guilty in 2012 for failing to report Ratigan timely, after a legal battle that cost his diocese over a million dollars. In short, Finn was low-hanging fruit.
The day before Finn’s resignation was announced, the Irish “Joan of Arc” and priest sex abuse survivor, Marie Collins, who is a member of the panel Francis established to address the abuse crisis, reportedly wondered “how anybody like that (Finn) could be left in charge of a diocese.” “Things are moving slowly, as I have said many times, but they are moving in the right direction!” as Marie Collins boldly tweeted Tuesday (April 21) after hearing news of Finn’s resignation. Also, Collins reportedly said this week a plan for hierarchical accountability is on Francis’ desk now. What in God’s name is the pope waiting for?
Francis will be making his first visit to the USA in September, a highly anticipated trip to a crucially powerful and wealthy Church where media mesmerized Catholics have welcomed his new style as much as anywhere. But it’s also a Church whose members have been traumatized by the abuse scandal, which they see as a priority for the pope to curtail, at least as much as the Catholic protesters in Chile appear to see it. Will US Catholics protest similarly in Philadelphia, New York City and/or Washington DC this summer? Who ever expected Chilean Catholics to protest so strongly against their Argentine neighbor, Francesco?
On Finn’s sacking, see also the National Catholic Reporter’s Joshua J. McElwee, Brian Roewe and Dennis Coday report and the informative comments thereto. See also my Electing Bishops & Jeb Bush Too , A Pope, A New US War, Jeb Bush Neocons & Big Oil and Hillary Clinton vs. Pope Francis in 2015 USA Politics .
Will Pope Francis now sack also the bankrupt Minneapolis Archdiocese’s Archbishop John Nienstedt, who is enmeshed in several obscene scandals involving alleged priest child abuse cover-ups and gay relationships with some of his priest subordinates. The child abuse cover ups allegedly also extensively involve Fr. Kevin McDonough, brother of US President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough.
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