Bishop Finn convicted on one charge of failure to report abuse [Catholic News Service]

[pnewton]

As I said, Finn can be forgiven, as we hopefully all will be. He should have the humility, however, to step down. His hands-off, see no evil “misjudgment” put children in jeopardy and further squandered the credibility of the Catholic clergy. It’s not “judging” someone to expect that he or she will hold themselves accountable to certain standards.

Forgiven? One is forgiven for sins that one does. Sin is a deliberate act of the will, not a mistake. A Catholic bishop does not step down for civilian authorities. Are you going to resign your job if you make a mistake? Do you think the technician that found the pictures should be fired? Should the deacon who passed the computer on to the diocese also be fired? Should the police who were initial contacted be fired? What about Msr. Murphy who the prosecutor declined to prosecute, even though he had more direct knowledge than the Bishop.

You say that his actions put others in jeopardy. Are you aware he was acquitted of any culpability prior to February 2011, by which time he had removed the priest from any contact with children?

No, I do not agree with the people here wanting his job. We tend to be selective in our society who we go after in the name of “the children”. The Catholic clergy will never have any credibility for many in this society. I prefer to concentrate all my efforts on the people, you know, that actually abuse children and leave the witch hunt to others. I guess we all have different things that turn our stomach.

 

[pnewton]

If I was a bishop, I would go absolutely retro on this whole reporting thing. I would not allow the subject to be discussed in the diocese. If someone had any information, let them go straight to the police and leave the diocese out of it. Quit playing law enforcement. No effort will ever be appreciated and every error could lead to this sort of garbage. If a parent wants to complain, send them to the police. If some tech guy comes up with images on a computer, send him to the police.

 

[Cider]

Honestly, I’ve thought from the beginning that this was a witch hunt against a good Bishop. I think this is a case of him paying for grievous mistakes of others in the past ( like the horrible abuse in Boston). From everything I’ve read these were pictures of children that were taken in public places, as the kids participated in diocesan activities. AFAIK no children were physically touched and they didn’t even know their pictures were taken. Do I think that the priest that took and kept the pictures did so inappropriately and likely for a heinous reason, yes.

News reported when this came to light said that there was nothing specific in the pictures that made them child pornography, as the kids were dressed and they were all taken outside in public places where events were happening. The priest didn’t take any pictures of children where the two were alone together. As such, it wasn’t evident that it was criminal.

I notice that most of the news stories are now leaving out those facts and leaving the implication that direct abuse of these children’s person occurred and that it was purposely covered up by the Bishop. I don’t believe this to be the case.