UNITED STATES
Religion News Service
David Gibson | November 17, 2014
(RNS) When Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley told “60 Minutes” that Pope Francis was well aware of the need to hold Missouri Bishop Robert Finn accountable for shielding a suspected child abuser, it sounded like another bell tolling on Finn’s tenure, perhaps the loudest gong yet since Finn was convicted in 2012.
“It’s a question that the Holy See needs to address urgently,” O’Malley said Sunday (Nov. 16) when asked about Finn, who was found guilty of a misdemeanor for failing to tell police about the Rev. Shawn Ratigan. Ratigan was later convicted of federal child pornography charges.
“There’s a recognition of that,” O’Malley said. Asked if that recognition came directly from Pope Francis, the cardinal said yes: “From Pope Francis.”
O’Malley is known as Francis’ closest confidant among the U.S. bishops and he is part of the pope’s blue-ribbon commission on combating sex abuse by clergy.
But even more important may have been O’Malley’s remarks about the Vatican creating a system for disciplining bishops — establishing a process of accountability that could be used for churchmen beyond low-hanging clerical fruit like Finn.
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