Pope accepts resignation of Bishop who failed to report suspected paedophile
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a US bishop who pleaded guilty to failing to report a priest suspected of child abuse, in the first known case of a pope cracking down on a bishop involved in a paedophile cover-up.
The Vatican said Bishop Robert Finn offered his resignation under the code of canon law that allows bishops to resign early for illness or some “grave” reason that makes them unfit for office. It did not provide the reason.
Finn, who leads the diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph in Missouri, waited six months before notifying police about the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, whose computer contained hundreds of lewd photos of young girls taken in and around churches where he worked.
Ratigan was sentenced to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.
Finn pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour charge of failure to report suspected abuse and was sentenced to two years’ probation in 2012.
He remains the highest-ranking church official in the US to be convicted of failing to take action in response to abuse allegations.
The Vatican’s failure to sanction or remove him had fuelled victims’ complaints that bishops were continuing to enjoy protections even under the “zero tolerance” pledge of Francis.
Even Francis’s leading adviser on issues surrounding sex abuse, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, had said publicly that Francis needed to “urgently” address Finn’s case.
The Vatican sent a Canadian archbishop to Finn’s diocese last autumn as part of his an investigation of his leadership.
