Thousands Sign Online Petition Urging Resignation of Bishop Finn
By: Safiya Songhai
Updated: October 2, 2012
(KANSAS CITY, Mo) He is the first leader in the Catholic Church to ever be convicted of concealing a sexual abuse crime.
Now, some members of the church not only want Bishop Robert Finn to resign his position as leader of the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese, they are putting their names on the dotted line.
Nearly 90,000 people have signed an online petition urging Bishop Finn to resign.
The petition is posted on the website change.org and organizers hope to appeal to the top leaders of the church, all the way to Italy.
"The goal is that Bishop Finn's peers will counsel him and advise him that there's a lot of support out there for a resignation and perhaps he should move on," said petition organizer Jeff Weiss.
Those who support Bishop Finn say they do not want him to resign.
They say he has learned a lesson from his conviction and is actively working on policies to ensure that such abuse is not tolerated by the church in the future.
Now, some members of the church not only want Bishop Robert Finn to resign his position as leader of the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese, they are putting their names on the dotted line.
Nearly 90,000 people have signed an online petition urging Bishop Finn to resign.
The petition is posted on the website change.org and organizers hope to appeal to the top leaders of the church, all the way to Italy.
"The goal is that Bishop Finn's peers will counsel him and advise him that there's a lot of support out there for a resignation and perhaps he should move on," said petition organizer Jeff Weiss.
Those who support Bishop Finn say they do not want him to resign.
They say he has learned a lesson from his conviction and is actively working on policies to ensure that such abuse is not tolerated by the church in the future.
Comments
WELL I'M NOT GOD BUT GOD SENT HIS SON 2 DIE ON THE CROSS 4 OUR SINS SO THAT WE CAN HAVE ETERNITY IN HEAVEN US CHRISTIANS ASK 4 FORGIVENESS AND WE KNOW GOD WILL FORGIVE BUT GOD ALSO SAYS "I WILL FORGIVE THOSE WHO FORGIVE OTHERS AND THEMSELVES" SO WHAT I'M TRYING 2 SAY IS I KNOW THAT'S PROLLY NOT EXACT WORDS IN ORDER BUT HE DOES TALK ABOUT FORGIVE OTHERS HAS GOD FORGAVE U THOSE WHO WON'T FORGIVE HE WONT' FORGIVE UR SUPPOSE 2 FORGIVE AND FORGET NOW WHAT HE HAS DONE IS BETWEEN HIM AND GOD CATHOLICS SINS JUST LIKE WE DO WE R HUMANS WE WILL MAKE MISTAKES BUT I THINK HE SHOULD RESIGN HE IS SUPPOSE 2 BE THE MAN OF THE CLOTH THEN AGAIN IF GOD WANTS HIM 2 CONT. DO BE A PRIEST THEN ITS MEANT 2 BE EITHER WAY HE DID WRONG VERY WRONG
JASON J.
October 2, 2012 at 10:21 pm
It is our guess that all of the US bishops have been very closely watching this case against Bishop Finn. The KC diocese [censored] abuse cover up is not an isolated incident by any means. There could have been hundreds of bishops sitting in that same chair in that court room, and hopefully law enforcement will be more willing to investigate how church officials are really handling child [censored] abuse within their diocese.
This guilty verdict sends a message that high ranking church officials are not above the law anymore. Even though Bishop Finn received no jail time, he is now deemed a criminal, he can not even pass the Catholic Conference of Bishops' own "child protection back ground check". and therefore he needs to be defrocked from the priesthood.
This trial and verdict is only the beginning of getting this horrific abuse stopped. It is only the beginning of getting the enabling and empowering of child predators stopped within this archaic secretive institution. It is only the beginning of protecting kids today.
Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director, USA, 636-433-2511. snapjudy@gmail.com,
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests,)
Judy B.
October 2, 2012 at 11:11 am
