Survivor Groups to USCCB National Lay Review Board: Why in God's Name Is Resigned and Disgraced Bishop Robert Finn Slated to Ordain Priests in May?

Several groups of abuse survivors and advocates for abuse survivors have written the National Lay Review Board a letter that, in my view, deserves very serious attention. A bit of background: this board is the official body of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that advises the bishops on handling the abuse crisis in American Catholicism. The letter to the USCCB National Lay Review Board is from Bishop Accountability, National Survivor Advocates Coalition, and the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. The signatories are Anne Barrett Doyle and Terry McKiernan of Bishop Accountability, Kristine Ward of NSAC, and David Clohessy of SNAP.

Tom Doyle on What Bishop Finn's Failed Pastoral Leadership Cost Kansas City Diocese, in Dollars and Cents

Father Tom Doyle, OP, at National Catholic Reporter, on what Bishop Robert Finn's failed pastoral leadership cost the Kansas City diocese in dollars and cents: 

Peter Isely on the Resignation of Bishop Finn, Abuse Survivors, and Persephone's Pomegranate Seed

A valuable piece of commentary from Peter Isely of SNAP Wisconsin, in his Facebook feed recently, about the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn and the pomegranate seed: Peter notes that the leaders of the Catholic church are divided into two teams, team Benedict and team Francis, one the "traditionalist tough guy" team, the other the "moderate" team. And because teams vie to be winners, making other teams losers, and because winners and losers continuously shift, there's a whole lot of politicking and image-making and face-saving going on.

The Finn Story and What Crystallizes Lay Catholic Anger About the Abuse Crisis: A Photo Essay

And — it has to be said — (piggybacking on my first posting today) photos like the following absolutely do not help many of us lay Catholics overcome our anger about how the clerical club persistently finds every way in the world to make excuses for fellow priests abusing minors, and still, even now!, just does not seem to get it, about protecting children from danger as the obvious, indisputable top priority in the abuse crisis:

Bishop Robert's Finn's Criminal Conviction, and What Crystallizes the Anger of Lay Catholics About the Abuse Crisis (Hint: It's All About Clericalism)

Here's a letter from the heart I have written (by email) this morning to an e-friend, a very good person, who had emailed me to add to the chorus of those who pointed out that my reference to Bishop Robert Finn several days ago as a convicted felon is not technically correct: Bishop Finn was convicted for a misdemeanor, not a felony. The friend who emailed me about this is ordained, and I cannot help but be struck by the fact that those who have picked at this point are all ordained, all clergymen.

Three More Statements on "Resignation" of Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City: Francis Must Prove He Is Different

Three more statements about the "resignation" of convicted felon* Bishop Robert Finn of St. Joseph-Kansas City, from groups supporting survivors of childhood clerical sexual abuse:

Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: Jerry Slevin on How "Finn Sacking . . . Points to Serious Trouble after the Chile Revolt for the Pope’s Upcoming Visit to Philly"

Jerry Slevin at Christian Catholicism on how the Finn sacking shows the tenacity of abuse survivor Marie Collins in holding the pope's feet the fire regarding the abuse, the trouble he's in following the revolt in Chile over his appointment of Juan Barros as bishop, and how all of this plays into the staging and messsaging of Pope Francis's visit to the U.S. later in the year:

Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: "This Is a Big Deal . . . . Until Finn, No American Bishop Had Ever Been Forced from Office" for Cover-Up of Clerical Sex Crimes

David Gibson at Religion News Service on five lessons to be taken from the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn as bishop of St. Joseph-Kansas City: 

Big U.S. Catholic News of Day: Bishop Robert Finn Resigns

And, of course, the big news in the Catholic church in the U.S. today: the convicted felon who was bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Robert Finn, has just resigned. As Laurie Goodstein reports for New York Times,

Jerry Slevin on Jennifer Haselberger's Affidavit: "Underscores That Francis' Calculated and Ineffective Approach to Facing the Catholic Church's Greatest Challenge in Centuries Will Likely Be a Failure"

In response to Brian Roewe's report today at National Catholic Reporter about Jennifer Haselberger's affidavit in the sexual abuse lawsuit involving the archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, Harvard-trained international lawyer Jerry Slevin writes, 

New York Times "Retro Report" on "The Shame of the Church"

What did you think, those of you who watched the Al Jazeera America "Holy Money" documentary last evening? And the video documentaries just keep coming: the New York Times has just released a documentary entitled "The Shame of the Church," which is part of its "Retro Report" series.

Frank Cocozzelli on Continuing Spectacle of Convicted Criminal Bishop Robert Finn: "He Has Become the Symbol of Ongoing Institutional Intransigence"

Frank Cocozzelli on the continuing spectacle of convicted criminal Bishop Robert Finn, who refuses to relinquish his bishop's seat in Kansas City despite calls of Catholics in many places, including his own diocese, for him to do the right thing and step down after his conviction on charges of endangering children by protecting a pedophile priest:

In the News: Little Sisters of Poor vs. Obama, Frank Cocozzelli's Coughie Award, Fred Clark's "Daily Blog of the Day," John Allen Leaving NCR

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Now a grab-bag of news items and articles that have caught my attention in recent days, and which I'd like to bring to the attention of readers here:

Papal Commission on Sexual Abuse Crisis Announced; Survivors Respond

The Vatican announced yesterday that Pope Francis has set up a papal commission to advise him about dealing with the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic church. As Elisabetta Povoledo, Alan Cowell, and Rick Gladstone report for New York Times, this is the first concrete step Pope Francis has taken to address the abuse crisis, and the announcement comes two days after a United Nations panel resoundingly criticized the Catholic church for its mishandling of abuse cases.

Bill Tammeus's Open Letter to Pope Francis about Bishop Finn, and More on St. Paul-Minneapolis and Archbishop Nienstedt

Bill Tammeus's open letter to Pope Francis at National Catholic Reporter this week is excellent: he writes to Francis as a brother in Christ, stating,

Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: "Compare and Contrast" (Tebartz van-Elst Punished, Nienstedt and Finn Continue with Impunity)

In response to my posting yesterday about the mess that is the archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis under the pastoral leadership of Archbishop John Nienstedt, Chris Morley writes (one of the good birdcage droppings),

Father Shawn Ratigan Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison, But Robert Finn Continues to Sit His Episcopal Throne

Father Shawn Ratigan of Kansas City was sentenced to 50 years in prison today for possession and production of child pornography. 

As Papal Election Nears, AP Recycles Old News about Bishop Finn Attacking NCR's Catholicity

Does anyone in the world but me find it, well, odd that, on the eve of a papal election, the Associated Press is shopping around an article by Maria Sudekum about Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City "rebuking" the National Catholic Reporter for, as Finn wants us to imagine, having ditched Catholic identity? Here's the Sudekum article, which has just shown up at the ABC news site. FOX (of course) is also helping to push this article, as are the Washington Post, Breitbart, and a slew of news outlets.

Abuse Survivors and Their Allies Remember Benedict's Legacy: "Failed to Achieve," "Words Rang Hollow," "Never Once Contacted, Spoke To, or Apologized," "Did Not Do Enough"

And it's not merely LGBT Catholics and their allies (I'm referring to my previous posting) who see Benedict's legacy in decidedly more sober terms than do the leading luminaries who dominate the discourse at the center of the Catholic conversation: the same is true for Catholics who have survived childhood sexual abuse by clerics, and those who stand in solidarity with abuse survivors. Here's a selection of statements from this group of important commentators:

A Petition Calling on Bishop Robert Finn to Resign

As we celebrate last week's "victory" and "miracle" for the Catholic tribe, it may be important not to lose sight of who we really are as a church. As we celebrate our tribe's coming out on top in the HHS contraception battle--We're number one!--we might want to take a little peek in the mirror and remind ourselves of some of the beyond-cosmetic work we need to do to project a really compelling face as a religious body teaching moral truths in the American public square.