Apparently, he’s finally gone.
I speak of former Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert W. Finn, who bathed himself in ignominy and shamed the diocese.
Some friends who are members of Visitation Catholic Church, said the Rev. Patrick Rush, Visitation’s pastor, announced recently that Finn had moved to Lincoln, NE, to serve as chaplain at a nuns’ convent.
Very fitting. After being convicted three years ago of a misdemeanor charge of child sexual-abuse cover-up, he can’t serve in a parish. And Pope Francis, who called him to Rome and demanded his immediate resignation, certainly doesn’t want him anywhere near the Vatican.
Plus, the Diocese of Lincoln has a reputation as one of the most conservative in the country. That should suit Finn, an adherent to the ultra-conservative Opus Dei association of priests.
After resigning last April 21, Finn continued living for a time in palatial quarters that had been renovated to his specifications several years ago in diocesan offices at 20 W. 9th St. That arrangement continued during the months that Joseph Naumann, leader of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, served as administrator of the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese.
I believe the move to Lincoln took place shortly before or after the new permanent bishop, James V. Johnston Jr., arrived from Springfield, MO, in November. From what my friends told me, Finn and the bishop in Lincoln are friends and the friend invited Finn to take the Nebraska post.
It sounds to me like Finn slinked out the back door when he left Kansas City….The Star apparently didn’t find out about it — no article — and I don’t think the diocesan newspaper, the Catholic Key, reported his departure. The last article I could find about Finn on the Key’s website (which is a certifiable disaster — no dates on any stories accessed on the search button) was the announcement last spring that he was resigning. The Key never wrote anything negative about Finn. Of course, Finn was in charge of the paper and kept a heavy thumb on the reporters and editors.
…Meanwhile, the nasty stew that Finn cooked up shortly before he was asked to resign is still playing out and untangling. He ordered several extremely controversial priest reassignments, including naming a problematic Northland pastor to succeed Pat Rush at Visitation.
For space reasons, I’m not gong into detail about the Northland priest (you can read all about it here, if you’d like)…but suffice it to say some Visitation parishioners created such a squall that Archbishop Naumann canceled that reassignment and a few others. As a result, Rush had to delay by a year his planned retirement.
Another priest who had to delay his retirement was Robert Rost, who was at odds with Finn and whom Finn had consigned to the boonies of northern Missouri several years ago. Rost had to put off retirement because Finn had reassigned another priest he was at odds with — Don Farnan, pastor at St. Thomas More — to replace Rost in northern Missouri. But Farnan torpedoed that plan when he dug in his heels and said he wouldn’t report until after he had taken a sabbatical.
I’ll never forget what Don Farnan told me about that conversation with Finn: “He sort of went off.”
Very telling. Perfect temperament, don’t you think, for a bishop who had hundreds of people reporting to him? In the end, Farnan remained at St. Thomas More, but he could get reassigned in the spring, the time of year priest reassignments are usually announced.
(As you know, I usually run photos of my blog subjects. In this case, I just can’t bring myself to do it. But you can picture him.)
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A couple of closing thoughts:
First, I wonder what those nuns in Lincoln think about Finn. You might remember that under Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican ordered an umbrella group for U.S. nuns to “shape up,” in so many words, after an investigation concluded the nuns’ group had taken positions that undermined Roman Catholic teaching on the priesthood and homosexuality, while promoting “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.” I would bet anything that Finn was 100 percent in favor of hammering the nuns. Pope Francis, by the way, has pressed forward with the reformation. (It’s still a good ol’ boys club, you know.)
Second, I wonder what kind of living quarters Finn has now…I’d like to believe what my Visitation friends jokingly suggested: He’s living in an Airstream out back.
(Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa…God, please forgive me for being so mean-spirited, but I think I should get a pass on this one.)
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Editor’s note: It’s Saturday morning (I posted the Finn piece Friday night), and I just read The Star’s story about special prosecutor William Seay charging Highway Patrol Officer Anthony Piercy with involuntary manslaughter in Brandon Ellingson’s May 2014 drowning at Lake of the Ozarks. “I have charged him with recklessly causing the death… It relates to an unjustifiable risk being taken,” Seay said. Seay (pronounced See) is the second special prosecutor who reviewed this awful case. The first special prosecutor, Amanda Grellner, fumbled and bumbled the case not once but twice, wasting precious months. Seay, a former prosecutor and retired Circuit Court judge in the Ozarks area, got it right. He hired an investigator, took his time compiling the evidence and then lowering the boom on a totally ill-trained water patrol officer, who also had the distinct disadvantage of lacking common sense and compassion. Congratulations Mr. Seay!
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Jimmy C: this piece needs a good copy edit. Take another look.
Thank you, Rick. I’m glad you called this to my attention early today…It was a late-night job; I was pumped up and not attentive to detail.
We have openings on our copy desk…Are you interested? There’s no fortune involved but more fame than you can imagine.
(To the early readers who read the first part of the story and wondered if I had my wits about me, I apologize.)
I thought maybe the linotype operators had sabotaged your column.
Sorry I missed the “Early Edition;” sounds like it was quite entertaining.
As to the second subject of this post: yea, where ya’ been?! That broke a couple days ago, didn’t it? Expected you to jump right on that!
Am still wondering if someone’s working behind the scenes on that firefighter suicide story. See that Tracy is curious, too.
Those poor nuns. Sounds like they’re bring punished for trying to gain acceptance for a little equality.
Now, now, Gayle. It came out yesterday; that’s when Seay filed the charge. The Star had it shortly after 11…I had a full day of errands and commitments, including lunch with Altevogt and Julius Karash, former Star business writer. I didn’t get home and get household duties taken care of until after 4, and then I took a nap.
Weeelll, I guess you get a pass this time. And I’m sure Messrs. Altevogt and Karash will forgive you for referring to what I’m sure was a delightful midday repast as a “commitment.” :-) Merry Christmas!
Bishop Finn’s assignment was announced in the December 4 issue of The Catholic Key. Bob Rost’s retirement and subsequent replacement with an excellent young priest (and Rost’s polar opposite in almost every way) was announced in the following issue, which someone who takes their faith seriously rather than sniping at it from 10,000 feet would know. Oh, and the chick running Guardian Angels was finally given her walking papers, something even Finn couldn’t accomplish. Yay, progress!!!! But I digress.
Found another copy edit mistake:
“But Farnan torpedoed that plan when he dug in his heels and said he wouldn’t report until after he had taken a sabbatical.”
Should read:
“Widdle Donnie Farnan torpedoed that plan when he threw a temper tantrum and stamped his widdle feet and threatened to hold his breath until he got his way. Then the mean Archbishop finally gave in and overturned the decision of the even meaner Bishop. Isn’t Donnie Farnan a big boy now? Just look at him!”
So Don Farnan is too good to go serve the people in a rural parish? Because priesthood is all about being pastor of a large parish with a huge budget and lots of powerful doctors and lawyers in the congregation, isn’t it? Screw those farmers and working folks!
Farnan should take his sabbatical and make it permanent and please take most of the priests his age and older in this diocese along with him. They’ve done a fine job of practically destroying Catholicism here. We need priests like the 10 young men ordained this year. Men unafraid to preach the truth. Men who won’t go running to a blogger to whine about how terribly they are being persecuted when the bishop sends them to a parish they don’t like. Men who understand priesthood as a call to service and encounter with Christ, not a career track ending in palatial quarters like, say….Visitation parish.
And speaking of palatial quarters, it’s funny you don’t mention the fact that when Bishop Finn relocated his residence to the chancery office, that allowed the diocese to sell the palatial quarters that your hero Bishop Sullivan, among others, lived in. Yes, the Bishop’s current apartment is quite nice, but nothing compared to the Sullivan Mansion that the diocese is now out from under. But whatevs….narrative after all.
I hope you also realize that Johnston and Finn are basically the same guy. I don’t mean necessarily temperament-wise. Everyone has their own personality and idiosyncrasies. I’m talking about in terms of Catholicity. This isn’t some Cupich clone that Farnan, Rush and their acolytes were hoping for. Oh well. Maybe you can manufacture some scandal to get him bounced too. I hear the county prosecutor convenes Grand Juries all the time to indict people for misdemeanor offenses. I mean, as long as those people are Catholic bishops. Keep hope alive!
Some scandal? Bishop Finn failed in every way to do the right thing in this particular case. Sorry you don’t see it that way. Thank goodness the person in charge at the school knew what it meant to be a mandatory reporter as well as the pope. And in regard to the clergy transfers, what Finn did was mean spirited pure and simple. Go to church and pray on that.
One correction, Johnny M. — I don’t think any previous bishop ever lived lived at the chancery when it was on Gillham near the nose of Hyde Park. I think Sullivan might have lived on Janssen Place. Before him, Charles Helmsing lived on Ward Parkway for a while. I remember calling him when I was doing a story on the history of Ward Parkway and asking him if he still lived there. He said, “Oh, no, that place was too big for me.”
Considering this morning’s headline concerning the Lake of the Ozarks Trooper, you’re having a pretty good start to the weekend.
Hi ho, hi ho, off to the most conservative diocese he goes!
A nice send-off, Rita…