UNITED STATES
The Guardian (UK)
David Clohessy
Pope Francis has made international headlines by breaking with a number of church traditions, but there is one that he sadly upholds. For centuries, most high ranking church officials guilty of child abuse or other crimes have been kept on the job, shuffled elsewhere, allowed to quietly retire or even promoted. That hasn’t changed: Vatican officials’ obsession with “saving face” still trumps their concern with saving children.
Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn clung to post and power for almost three years after he was convicted of failing to report a priest who took pornographic images of girls. Instead of being denounced, defrocked, or at least demoted years ago, Pope Francis accepted Finn’s resignation on April 21. Finn will get to keep his paycheck, his priesthood and even his bishop’s title. This summer, when US bishops gather for their annual meeting, he’ll likely be among them (as he has been even post-conviction).
Disgraced clergy often live comfortably ensconced in respectable or even prestigious church posts, basking in the glory and grandeur that accompany their exalted positions in places like Rome. Such is what passes for “accountability” in the hidebound, medieval and largely self-serving Catholic hierarchy.
By graciously letting Finn step away from his duties as head of a diocese, Francis is following the lead of his predecessors. He missed a golden opportunity to signal to both his bishops and his flock that he is serious about tackling child abuse. The Pope should have said he was stripping Finn of every role and title in the church, because he knowingly refused to do his civic and moral duty: calling police when he learned that children might have been hurt. Instead, his passive, vague acceptance of Finn’s resignation fails to deter others in high church offices from ignoring, minimizing, or concealing known or suspected clergy sex crimes.
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