Bishop Robert W. Finn was found guilty Thursday on one count of failing to report suspected child abuse, becoming the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States in the decades-long sexual abuse scandals to be convicted of shielding a pedophile priest.
In an abruptly announced bench trial that lasted a little over an hour, Judge John M. Torrence of Jackson County Circuit Court found Finn guilty of one misdemeanor charge and not guilty on a second. The charges each carried a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine, but Finn received a sentence of two years of court-supervised probation.
It was a sudden ending to a case that has consumed the church in Kansas City and threatened to turn into a sensational, first-ever trial of a sitting prelate. The case had been scheduled for a jury trial later this month, but Wednesday the prosecution announced that it would be decided in one...
All too true, Hedges, Abuse in the Catholic Church (I wish the Boston Globe have kept this updated, but oh well).
Francis DeBernardo wrote: The investigation of U.S. seminaries for 'evidence of homosexuality' continues the pattern of smoke-screening that Church leaders have employed since the clergy child abuse crisis began,...Why not look instead for evidence of cowardice, secrecy, and dishonesty - the traits displayed by so many bishops which magnified the crisis into a public scandal?
John Yurich USA wrote: I don't understand why homosexual men were permitted to enter Catholic seminaries in the United States to study for the priesthood in the first place? None of this child abuse insanity would have transpired if those homosexual men were forbidden from entering Catholic seminaries in the United States to study for the priesthood.
Yes but John, The Roman Catholic Serminaries are run by homosexuals and they won't allow decency and justice to get in the way of their plans, would they?
An organisation which has long since ditched the Bible isn't really interested in what their priests and bishops get up to as long as they don't get caught.
I don't understand why homosexual men were permitted to enter Catholic seminaries in the United States to study for the priesthood in the first place? None of this child abuse insanity would have transpired if those homosexual men were forbidden from entering Catholic seminaries in the United States to study for the priesthood.
Dr. Alan Cairns | 8/3/2009
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