In the last four days, the picture has grown dimmer for Bishop Robert Finn, and the evidence of wrongdoing at the highest levels of local Catholic hierarchy has grown stronger.
And all because of two articles in The Kansas City Star.
The first was a thoroughly researched and beautifully written profile of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who stands charged with three felony counts of possessing child pornography. It ran on Page 1 on Saturday.
The second was an “As I See It, ” Op-Ed piece by Pat O’Neill a respected marketing consultant in Kansas City. It ran on Page A-11 on Monday. O’Neill, a practicing Catholic, called for the resignations of Finn and Vicar General Robert Murphy, and he challenged prosecutors to bring charges against the two.
The profile and the opinion piece served as a one-two punch that took a lot of steam out Bishop Finn’s time-killing initiative two weeks ago, when he appointed former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves to investigate the diocese’s handling of sex-crimes cases, including the Ratigan case.
Morris
Rice
First, let’s look at the profile, which bore the by-lines of federal courts reporter Mark Morris and Northland reporter Glenn E. Rice. Rice has been on the Ratigan-Finn story from the start; this story represented Morris’ first work on the story.
Two of the main points that Morris and Rice established were, first, that Ratigan is — like Finn — a crusading, pro-life cleric, and, second, that Ratigan and Finn have spent time together.
The fact that they have more than a passing relationship could well indicate that after lewd photos of young girls were found in Ratigan’s laptop computer, Finn was loath to turn in a priest whom he knew quite well and who shared his pro-life stance. That’s been my conviction ever since Mike Rice, a former KC Star reporter, wrote a comment on this blog May 20, saying that he knew of people who had stopped attending Mass at Ratigan’s Northland parish because of his conservative ideology.
Regarding the Finn-Ratigan relationship, Morris and Rice dug up records revealing that in January 2007, Finn joined Ratigan and 40 high school students from St. Joseph for a bus ride to Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life rally.
One of the most fascinating glimpses of Ratigan’s pro-life zeal was that he had his Harley-Davidson motorcycle decorated with themes that celebrated life.
“The gas tank bore the image of an angel bringing a baby down from heaven,” the story said, “while another spot carried a cross emblazoned with a ribbon reading, ‘Pro-Bikers for Life.’ ”
The entire story is a great read, but it contains, in particular, two killer paragraphs.
One is about Ratigan’s propensity to gamble. (He played the Missouri Lottery, for example.)
“In December 2010,” the story said, “whether he realized it or not, Ratigan placed one of the lowest percentage bets of his life when he handed his laptop computer to a repair person. Would the technician notice the allegedly lewd photos of girls under the age of 12? And if so, would he mention the photos to anyone?”
Wisely, the reporters let the questions hang in the air because everyone knows the answers.
The second memorable paragraph spelled out what happened after church officials seized Ratigan’s computer.
“The next day, Ratigan, the son of a man who suffered from profound depression, retreated to his garage, fired up the pro-life Harley and waited for death.”
We all know how that episode came out, too.
***
O’Neill’s column carries a tremendous wallop in no small measure because he is well known in Catholic circles and even served for a time as communications consultant to the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph and the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.
O'Neill
In his piece, O’Neill showed that he, too, can turn a phrase. Consider this:
“When Bishop Finn arrived here in 2005, he was one of a new wave of American bishops charged with turning the tide of public opinion away from the abuse scandals and back to core conservative Catholic values and respect for the church and its priestly vocations. Instead, Bishop Finn is up to his collar in a flood of renewed scrutiny and anger.”
O’Neill went on to point out that despite hundreds of reports of priest sexual abuse over the last two decades, “only a handful of pedophile priests and no complicit church supervisors have been subjected to civil punishment, i.e., jail time.”
The column concluded with a flourish:
“The time has come for us to harness our collective anger and embarrassment and use that energy to change the way our church and our dioceses operate, once and for all.
“After all these years, it is starkly obvious to me that there will be no change for the better in the Kansas City diocese until men like Bishop Robert Finn and his Vicar General Robert Murphy are forced to resign, and criminals in collars are subject to secular trial and incarceration.”
In the p.r. battle that is being waged between Bishop Finn and his supporters on one hand and his critics on the other, the advantage has once again shifted to the critics, partly because of a great news story and a damn good p.r. man.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Great writing, Jim.
All best,
Laura
Unlike the folks that make Hebrew National Hot Dogs, the Catholic Church refuses to answer to a “higher power.”
Having been raised in a wonderful and robust Catholic parish in KCK, my heart breaks and my blood boils with each new report and update.
The book “Goodbye Good Men” by Michael Rose does a good job of explaining the circumstances that have led to this abomination of trust and faith. The explanation is by no means a justification or even an indictment. The book provides little comfort or any tangible solutions.
Despite 13 years of Catholic education and indoctrination I can only fall back on the words of comedian DL Hughley, who said, “I believe in God; I’m not so sure about all these other guys that say they work for Him.”
Everyone should push for a Grand Jury investigation to see what else Bishop Finn ignored or overlooked.
When they did an investigation in Philadelphia, the results were horrifying. Read the first 6 pages of at http://bit.ly/jyfXni to see how sexually perverted these priests were with children.
I’m glad to see that this time The Star used reporters who do not have the baggage that Judy Thomas carries with her. This is an important story and it does not need the distractions her byline brings with it. particularly among the very people who really need to read and trust this information. Nice summary, Fitz.
secular government allowing private organizations to police and try it’s members for secular crimes ??????? What is wrong with this picture ?????????????
With the current pope, is there really any chance that Finn will resign?
I would think, Kate, that if he’s charged or indicted in Jackson County that he would at least be put on leave. If he got convicted, he’d have to go. The Pope would wring his hands, but he’d have no choice. Finn might even consider resigning, if convicted.
For the past nine years, I have dedicated my life to reaching out to the still silent scared victims who were sexually abused when they were children. I have listened to hundreds of heart wrenching stories from those who were treated so badly that sometimes I wonder how they are still alive.
And I have known many who have not made it, the pain was so great they committed suicide.
Those once innocent children did not deserve to be sexually abused, and I hope they understand it was NOT their fault, they were just a child.
Child sex abuse will most likely never completely go away, but it does not have to become a worse epidemic. Daily I read the news and find another child has been harmed.
I work with SNAP, “Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests”. I got involved because several of my relatives were sexually abused by our parish priest in southeastern Ohio.
This is what I have learned in these past nine years of my work with victims:
–Child predators count on their victims to keep quiet, so they will not get caught and so they can continue to abuse
–Bishops and those who enable and protect child predators count on the victims to keep quiet, so they will not get caught and they can continue their lives as usual and keep their power.
–Church members count on the victims to keep quiet, especially if the predator is a clergy who represents god, because those members fear losing their faith and not going to heaven.
–Witnesses to child abuse count on the victims staying silent, because those witnesses might have to bother to speak up, or even sit on the witness stand and share their information, it would disrupt their lives.
–Legislators and law enforcement count of victims of child sex abuse to keep quiet, because they might have to work to change the laws for sex crimes, which could possibly cause some unfavorable publicity for them or lack of votes.
–The public also count on the victims to keep quiet, so they do not feel the need take some action, or do something to prevent it. They do not want to “get involved”.
These are the reasons why kids are still being sexually abused today, and these are the reasons why I will never stop doing what ever it takes to get the sex abuse of innocent kids and young teens stopped. So many victims who were sexually used and abused are still not speaking up and reporting their abuse to police, even if it happened many years ago. (It does no-one any good to keep your pain to yourself and it does nothing to get these crimes against kids stopped).
It is time for victims, witnesses, whistle blowers, parents, teachers, priests, ministers, and the public to start to get some courage and speak up for any child who is being abused, or who has been abused, or who could be abused. These kids do NOT deserve to have uncaring adults living around them.
Children deserve to be loved, nurtured, cherished, and protected from the sexual predators who are still roaming your communities.
And to those victims who are still suffering is silence, please know that you are not alone, there is hope, help, and healing.
Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director, 636-433-2511
snapjudy@gmail.com
“Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests”
http://www.snapnetwork.org/
Interesting that Judy Jones doesn’t capitalize the word “God.” Pretty much says it all. How much does SNAP pay you, dear??
All those kind words for Kevin Gray and here he was a devout Catholic!! The horror of it. All Catholics are horrible people, aren’t they, Jim?
And Mr. O’Malley is still linking to his personal busine$$$$. That’s a surprise, isn’t it?
Judy II — I appreciate your comment, but you’re rea-a-a-l-l-l-y stretching there, aren’t you? “All Catholics are horrible people”…Who has ever said that on this site or ANYWHERE ELSE?
And as for your reference to “all those kind words for Kevin Gray,” check out the comment that I wrote on June 14 in a discussion of my post about “Bishop Finn’s Defenders.”
For the record, I wrote that I believed the Catholic liturgy was superior to that of most Protestant churches, and I went on to say…
“Specifically, I think the Catholic music is by far the best, and as for sending loved ones to rest, nothing else approaches the Mass of Christian Burial. You can cry your eyes out and know you’ve given your loved one the best possible send-off.”
Judy II–
Of course SNAP pays its staff. Judy Jones is paid. So is the diocesan spokesperson.
I think SNAP staff, having seen with their own eyes the devastating effects of child abuse, have made it a priority in their lives to help victims/survivors of abuse. Why do you scorn that just because they are paid? Would you prefer to go back to the days when nobody talked about it, the church paid for confidentiality agreements, and bishops quietly shuffled abusers off to unsuspecting parishes? SNAP is dealing with a situation the bishops created through decades of silent intimidation.
You might talk to those at St. Thomas More and St. Patrick’s, many of whom have been much less temperate in their statements than Judy Jones.
I find it difficult sometimes to separate the lawyers and others who are being paid to generate negative publicity against the Catholic church.
If they do not accuse priests and bishops of heinous crimes they are out of business. The church is dealing with its bad apples, but there are also some wonderful clergy who have been falsely accused and had their reputations ruined.
The guy who supposedly was at the Abbey the Catholic church tried to provide counseling and help (which many at the time firmly believed could correct his issues), but finally tossed him out.
He simply moved to the Episcopal church where homosexuality is celebrated and he was a respected priest there. He said he was cured, but I also have swamp land in Florida I would sell you.
Is SNAP and its attorneys going to go after the Episcopal Church? Don’t bet on it.
Ron,
I was an Episcopalian in Massachusetts when the retiring Episcopal bishop committed suicide. It was discovered that he had conducted sexual relationships with a number of female parishioners and employees over the course of his career.
The day after his funeral, the diocese held a press conference that laid out all the facts and offered counseling to the victims. The church didn’t stonewall, hide any information, or cast doubt on the victims’ veracity.
No need for SNAP!
Good example of how laying the cards on the table, face up, is the best approach in every situation where there’s fault, Matt…The Catholic Church just doesn’t understand that or realize the importance of it. You would think that everyone who ever knew about Watergate would understand and take the cue.
I think, like many others, that the “men’s club” orientation of the Catholic Church is at the root of the problem. Generally, women seem to have a better sense of the need to right a wrong, and I think they are more willing to come clean when it comes to dealing with difficult situations. The church badly needs women in all hierarchical ranks to knock some mitres together.