John Meacham writes about this in his Time Magazine article titled A Prelate In The Dock which is subtitled "Why the faithful can take solace in the indictment of a Catholic Bishop". Here are a few excerpts from his piece:
I pray that the Vatican will move swiftly in this case to act righteously and, at least temporarily, remove Bishop Finn from his position. If it does then I think that everyone, especially we in the Kansas City metro area, will understand that the Roman Catholic Church is taking these matters of priestly child abuse seriously.There is some hope at the moment that perhaps the Roman Catholic Church in the United States may learn to appreciate that God may be more interested in the safety of his people than the protection of his abusive priests. For too long the Catholic hierarchy has seemed to value the reputation of the Church over the well-being of the church, a word derived from the Greek meaning “gathering” or “assembly.” Put another way, the people of God precede the institution of religious authority, order, and institutions.
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Now, at last, there is news that suggests at least one bishop of the church will face a reckoning with responsibility. The Roman Catholic bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, Robert W. Finn, has been indicted for failing to report suspected child abuse after allowing five months to elapse before informing authorities that child pornography had been discovered on the laptop of a priest with access to children. Finn has thus become the highest-ranking Roman Catholic official to be held criminally liable for appearing to protect his priests.
Bishop Finn is only one of many problems that the Roman Catholic Church needs to address. Their unbiblical view of salvation through the sacraments is another. May God cause many in the RCC to turn to Christ alone for their salvation.
ReplyDeleteJesus warned us that there would be wolves in sheeps' clothing among us. The church protecting the wolves at the horrific expense of the sheep is a terrible sin! I'm glad Benedict has recognised this and is moving to remove the wolves. But this is not a "Catholic" problem, it a sin problem. Catholic priests do not comprise the bulk of chld sex abusers in the world. They only get the most negative press.
ReplyDelete@CR - Agree about the bulk of sex offenders. Even so, IMO, the sin problem in the RCC is the institutionalized cover ups, feet dragging, lack of transparency and seeming indifference to the suffering of children at the hands of a few priests.
ReplyDeleteIt is a sad situation when civil authorities indict a bishop and even sadder when the RCC hierarchy (Benedict included) refuses to temporarily remove that bishop. I am sad about it. I had hoped that this was behind the RCC and these types of stories would not be hitting the news anymore.
On a brighter note, justice will eventually be served and Bishop Finn may be proven not guilty of the charges. I do wonder if the case will go to court though or if a plea bargain will be struck.