The long-anticipated move out of Rome — the move that I had nearly given up hope on — has come to pass.
Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn — reviled by thousands of area Catholics since being convicted of failing to report priest sexual abuse in the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese — is out.
Hallelujah! Hosanna in the Highest!
Break out all the cliches. And, more important, break out the hats and hooters (the party variety): Those dispirited Catholics, as well as the rest of us who have watched this sorry spectacle drag out for three years, are in a mood to party.
A good friend of ours who has worked at the Catholic chancery for 20 years texted me and Patty the thrilling news at 6:36 a.m. The message:
“And Finn is out of here! And the crowds roar!”
That last sentence was figurative, of course, but so fitting.
Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Diocese of Kansas City in Kansas will serve as “Apostolic Administrator” until Pope Francis appoints a new bishop.
Naumann met with employees at 10:15 a.m at the chancery, 20 W. 9th Street. His first words, our friend at the chancery said, were: “How about those Royals?”
**
For the record The Kansas City Star does not have a story in today’s printed edition. Early this morning it posted an Associated Press story on its website. Shortly after 7 a.m., The Star posted a local story under the lead byline of the very able and knowledgeable Judy L. Thomas. Here’s that link…http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article19121754.html
The New York Times also has a story…http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/us/missouri-bishop-convicted-of-shielding-pedophile-priest-resigns.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
The National Catholic Reporter has been leading the way on the story. Here’s the link to today’s report…http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/us-bishop-finn-symbol-churchs-failure-sexual-abuse-resigns
Yesterday, NCR had the “scoop,” with a speculative story that ran under the headline “Kansas City swamped with unsubstantiated rumors of Finn’s resignation.” http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/kansas-city-swamped-unsubstantiated-rumors-finns-resignation
Another journalistic note here: Based on yesterday’s NCR story, The Star should have had a story in today’s paper. It dropped the ball, in my opinion.
In addition, it’s my opinion that if Mark Morris, The Star’s brilliant former courts reporter, had not retired last month, The Star would have had a story yesterday. (See his disclaiming comment below.)
Morris not only covered the bench trial in which Finn was convicted of a misdemeanor in the Shawn Ratigan case, but he also tracked diocesan developments closely, reading NCR and other Catholic-related publications regularly. (Mark’s byline appears on today’s web story by Judy Thomas because before leaving the paper he wrote extensive background copy to help the paper be ready for today’s turn of events.)
Our former bishop
I have not had a chance to fully read either NCR story, but I’m going to tell you what the chancery employee told me about the lead-up to Finn’s ouster.
A week ago Tuesday night, chancery employees got an e-mail saying Finn was canceling a confirmation (one of Catholicism’s “seven sacraments”) the next day, apparently because he was going out of town.
“He would never cancel a confirmation,” the insider said. “It (the e-mail) didn’t say where he was going or why.”
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the chancery, where morale had been lower than low, began to lift. A feeling that change could be imminent was in the air.
In about 24 hours, Finn was back. And word began to spread in the chancery that the bishop had been summoned to Rome for a meeting. That was big; it might not have signaled a change at the top, but what else could have precipitated such an urgent meeting at the Vatican?
I had heard elsewhere that after returning from Rome, Finn was glum. He’s basically a sourpuss, but apparently he was more glum than usual.
The chancery employee said that since Finn’s return, “I’ve had a steady stream of priests in my office, talking.”
And what was the employee’s overall reaction to the upheaval?
“I want to go to work today…It’s a good day; it’s going to be a good day.”
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
…many workers in many professions, from education to journalism to medicine, feel the same way about their bosses in 2015…leadership today tends toward mean, self promoting, micromanaging, absolutism, that leaves little room for the good hearted, independent, creative spirits that used to define true professionalism in careers.
The church has not yet experienced a true epiphany on the value of professionalism in the administrative ranks. But I think today’s news is a step in that direction. It will be very interesting to see who the pope appoints. Will it be a liberal or another conservative? Pope John Paul stacked the deck with many of conservatives, and it’s going to take a long time to get the ship pointed forward.
Two years too late, but better than the usual Catholic high-handed “we don’t subscribe to man’s laws” bullshit.
Now if the new pope will rid himself of the creature in Chile and then give sharp teeth to his new commission, why it might be enough to believe…well, not in virgin birth or any other nonsense, but at least that the adherents might be safe bringing their kids to their rituals.
The Chilean situation is one reason I’m not gushing with praise for Pope Francis. Glad you brought that up, Will…Here’s the deal for those that don’t know…
Francis recently elevated a Chilean bishop named Juan Barros from one Chilean diocese to a larger one. He did so despite Barros’ longtime affiliation with Chile’s most notorious molester, Rev. Fernando Karadima.
Today’s AP story about Finn says this: “Karadima’s victims say Barros witnessed abuse decades ago. He (Barros) has denied knowing anything until he read news reports of Karadima’s crimes in 2010. The Vatican has defended the appointment. Karadima was sanctioned by the Vatican in 2011 for sexually abusing minors.”
Promoting Barros was a big mistake and very disappointing. If Francis will backtrack on that, he would truly show that he is serious about putting children’s safety ahead of protecting predator clerics.
I thought all hooters were of the party variety and thanks once again for pointing out the value of institutional memory at times like this.
Just wanted to be perfectly clear about the “hooters.” I knew you’d be commenting on that!
Have pity on the people wherever he is sent. Bernard Law was my bishop in south Missouri before he went to Boston. Now he’s in Rome. Maybe he could use some help.
Great to hear from you, John. I hope you’re doing well…I have a feeling this won’t be a shuffle job, where Finn is put in charge of another diocese. I bet he’ll get some extremely obscure appointment, just as he did with former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, a card-carrying Neanderthal.
I apologize for the earlier NCR links not working. It’s fixed now. And thanks to “Gayle,” a regular reader and commenter for alerting me to the problem.
(Whenever any of you notice a problem with links, grammar or facts, I encourage you to let me know. You’re my best — and only — editors.)
Jim:
I appreciate your kind words about my interest in this issue and your sense that I would have brought more to bear on the story had I not retired last month.
I’m not at all certain that’s the case. Here’s why, and I’m sorry to drone on a bit:
Late last year, after the apostolic visitation and Cardinal O’Malley’s “60 Minutes” interview, it became clear that Bishop Finn could resign at any time and that The Star would have to be ready. We’d need to post to the web early, and then keep updating throughout the day.
So I prepared a load of what you’ll remember as “a-matter” — advance matter, in newsroom jargon — to sit in a protected area of our computer system until it was needed. Before leaving the paper last month, I reviewed the material with my editor — Donna McGuire — and the reporter most likely to work on the followup, Judy L. Thomas.
And, thus, I began retirement. (It’s going great, by the way.)
I can confirm that last week it got awfully noisy with rumors about Bishop Finn’s imminent resignation flying everywhere. Sources that had not heard of my retirement called to ask me about them. I, too, learned independently that Bishop Finn had made a quick trip to Rome, missing some commitments in the diocese here. However, this wasn’t the first time such rumors had swept the local church. There was similar talk when the bishop made his ad limina visit to meet the previous pope some years back. The bishop also has a couple of seminarians studying in Rome whom he periodically sees.
It’s highly likely that had I been at the paper last week and earlier this week, I would have counseled against writing a story based on the rumors and whatever response the diocese was offering. Granted, the National Catholic Reporter made a different call, but they’re reporting for a narrower audience than that of the Star, and one that is much more invested in this issue.
As for what happened this morning, let me try to frame it up this way:
The Vatican made the announcement about noon Rome time, which is about 5 a.m. Kansas City time. From the dateline on his article, John Allen — a premier U.S. Vatican watcher at the Boston Globe’s Crux website — was back in Rome, as was Josh McElwee, a superb young Vatican reporter for the National Catholic Reporter. Both Allen, who used to work at NCR, and McElwee have had an intense interest in Bishop Finn’s travails for some time.
The probability that I, or the Star, could have beaten them to the punch on a story breaking about lunchtime in their own Vatican press room is remote.
As my wife headed to work about 6:45 a.m. Kansas City time, she woke me with news that Bishop Finn had resigned, which she picked up from radio reports.
I made coffee, went to my computer and checked the Star’s website and, like you, saw the AP story. But not long after 7 a.m., I noticed that The Star had posted my a-matter, which Judy had significantly augmented with statements from the diocese and other background which I had not included.
And from what I can tell, she and Glenn Rice have done a great job updating the piece throughout the morning. And I fully expect that, at some point, my byline will come off the story, and be replaced with Glenn’s.
And my last contribution to a Star news report will have faded quickly into memory.
Jim, you’ve always been generous with my work on this blog and I appreciate it. But on this story, I’m not sure I would have brought the hammer that you expected. Furthermore, the Star appears to be doing fine with the story.
All the best to you, your splendid family and your excellent commenters. I always enjoy reading here.
Mark
Thanks for the thoughtful response and the insight into how The Star approached the story, Mark…As I say to all first-time commenters “Welcome to the Comments Dept.” Keep ’em coming.
Deftly done, Mark. Kudos.
I could have sworn I’ve read Mr. Morris here before.
All I can say is, still in bed at 6:45 … Happy Retirement!
You’re right again, Gayle. He had two comments in 2011 before going underground. He avoided commenting when things were dicey at The Star the last few years and I was teeing off on the paper occasionally. (I’ve also sung The Star’s praises in just about equal measure, I feel.)
So, I should have said, “Welcome back to the Comments Dept.”
Great update and excellent background information for us newsies. As a longtime NCR reader, I’ve been following this sad story, not only about the abuse, but the near-destruction of the KC diocese under Finn’s watch. Finn’s enormous hubris was his undoing. All in all, this is a cautionary tale for the Church and its hierarchy.
Thanks, Olathe, and welcome to the Comments Dept.
I keep reading Finn failed “to report child sexual abuse.” I live out of state but have followed the saga closely. Never have I seen a charge of “child sexual abuse” against anyone. Ratigan was accused of taking upskirt photos and also with child pornography. I never, ever read that a single child had been “sexually abused.” Isn’t that quite different in nature from charges related to pornography? Bad priest, belongs in jail. But I don’t think he ever touched a child. Hope KC gets a good, fair bishop, not left or right, but Catholic.
Ratigan is doing 50 years. To me, that indicates the seriousness of his crimes; he is a predator. We are just lucky, if this is indeed the case, that he never went beyond photos.
And Bishop Finn will be ordaining 9 new priests in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on May 23, 2015. Hallelujah! Hosanna in the Highest! indeed.