UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Phyllis Zagano | May. 6, 2015 Just Catholic
The saga continues. You may recall the bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., judged guilty of knowingly failing to report suspected child sexual abuse, was sentenced to two years’ probation with conditions.
But when the bishop — Robert Finn — resigned last month, he had a few calendar items the high-ups approved: diaconal and priestly ordinations.
Say what?
Yes, it is true. The Not-Getting-It Department (Episcopal Division) met in person or in cyberspace and said to Finn: Sure, go ahead, ordain your deacons and priests.
Who, you ask? As it happened, Carlo Maria Vigano, the 74-year-old apostolic nuncio to the United States, gave the green light for Finn to do the ordinations. It was Finn’s friend, neighbor, and now administrator of Finn’s old diocese, Archbishop Joseph Naumann, who came up with the plan, citing scheduling conflicts preventing his doing the ordinations. In fact, Naumann has sent Finn the required permission letters for each ordination.
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