!!!!
Bishop Robert Finn
.
.
“No one has won anything here; we’ve all lost.”
Posted: 29 Apr 2015 03:12 PM PDT
From the Blog, SAINT LOUIS CATHOLIC
[I am honored to be able to publish here the text of a letter from a priest who shall remain anonymous, writing to Catholics about the resignation of His Excellency Robert Finn. It says it as well as it can be said. It has been edited slightly to remove some personal references; the substance is his – Abyssum]
_____________________
“As you all know, Bishop Finn has resigned … This comes after a long, bitter, nasty campaign by many of our brothers and sisters, who, for whatever reason, were convinced that he needed to go. … It is now, therefore, time to say a few things in the open during this time of sorrow for him, and for our diocese.
First of all, for the instigators of this unfortunate event, the issue was never the Ratigan affair. There were definitely mistakes made in handling the situation by people who, it turned out, were in over their heads, but there was never any malice, or impulse to cover up anything. I will not recount the story here, but I will say this: If this had happened on another, more popular bishop’s watch, the aftermath we have seen would not have occurred, because the motivation for the mob-scene that ensued was Bishop Finn’s fidelity to a classical concept of the church, not the cover-up of any misconduct.
For years before the bishop’s arrival, there had been in place a bleak outlook on the future shape of the church, a church without many priests, a church run “out of necessity” by laypeople, lay administrators, with priests as the sacramental suppliers, not leaders. It was said a lack of vocations was the reason for the new organizational principles adopted here, but, in fact, the lack of vocations was self-inflicted. Certain radicalized theologians and catechetical experts after the council had predicted a priest-less church, and some labored to bring this to fruition. In the’90’s in our diocese we sometimes had less than 5 seminarians in any given year, and this reality was used to prop up the idea that the post-Vatican II church was meant to be a new church, with a new organizational chart.
Bishop Finn, as most modern, younger bishops after the council, decisively rejected this depressive scenario, put much less money into programs established for the bleak future, and, instead, put money and resources into the development of priestly vocations, and we have seen the result. We will have 10 new priests in this fiscal year, and have had many in the past several years. Though we will ordain so many, we have more men applying right now than the number we’re ordaining.
People complain that these young priest candidates are conservative, and that the Vocations Office is recruiting only conservative seminarians. This is untrue. [The office has] never had an ideological litmus test for incoming students. What is true is that service in the church, dating back into the early ‘90’s, …was attractive to young men who loved the church, knew she was 2000 years old, loved her traditions and teachings, and hadn’t grown up in the ‘60’s time of turmoil. In other words, they were not, as a group, like their elders. And, as the men in my generation, they are allowed to be who they are. The vocations truly, were always there. The lack was in my generation’s insistence that the young men hold the same ideologies as we did. I saw many a young man turned away from the seminary in the early days for not having the “correct” leanings and attitudes. May God have mercy on us for our hubris and over-weaning pride.
Those who are celebrating the departure of Bishop Finn now began their work long ago, not because of the Ratigan case, but because Bishop Finn rejected their view of church reality. He was an “arch-conservative,” “pre-Vatican II,” “trying to take us back to the medieval church,” all these bits of nonsense that covered up the real truth: Post-conciliar ego and pride, the belief that we finally knew more than those thousands of saints who had gone before us, had led to the destruction of much of our church, the loss of clergy and religious, compromise with the world, especially in moral matters, the endangering of our families and children, and our own spiritual bankruptcy. The “Springtime of the Church of Vatican II” has never come, because we, in our smug superiority, had severed our connection with our past and Catholic Tradition. The tree cannot flower without its roots intact.
One of the most disturbing things I have seen in my years as a priest is the glee and meanness of many of our brothers and sisters in the aftermath of Bishop Finn’s resignation. Champagne corks popped, celebrations begun, more mean and vicious things said by people whose Lord Jesus said to them, “Love one another.” There is no forbearance or forgiveness for this man who plead no contest to a politically motivated charge filed by an ambitious prosecutor with strong ties to the abortion industry, so that he might save his local church the pain and cost of a public trial. The statute used to prosecute Bishop Finn was not even applicable to what happened, but such is our legal and political society. He is a man who loves and cherishes children, and would never for one minute hazard them for any reason. … But the outrage of many was managed by the designs of a few, and here we are.
What has this whole thing done to us? Is our love and respect conditional? [One person] put up a post on Facebook, “I hope Bishop Finn rots in Hell forever.” We have become mean, low and self-involved. The vicious attacks by Christians against Christians that we see day to day have become the norm. Whatever happened to praying for your enemy, blessing those who persecute you? Who are we and what have we become? No one has won anything here; we’ve all lost. An honorable man has been unjustly disgraced, and we have sacrificed his dignity and our own in a rush to punish and destroy; things antithetical to everything our common faith represents.
If any good is to come of this, it must come from the grace of God in the humble hearts of His faithful children. Let us learn the lessons again from Christ who is meek and humble of heart. His yoke is easy and His burden light. Let us not take upon ourselves the heavy yoke of hate and spite; they, in the end, are too much for us to bear without us losing everything the Lord wishes to give us. May God’s peace give us clean and humble hearts.
In the Sacred Heart of our Crucified Lord !!!
Despite announcing his resignation a week ago, Bishop Robert W. Finn will preside over the priestly ordinations of seven area deacons next month in the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese. Longtime critics of Finn expressed agitation over Finn’s continuing role in a diocese from which he stepped down under a cloud of scandal. | File photo by Rich Sugg rsugg@kcstar.com
ABYSSUS ABYSSUM INVOCAT / DEEP CALLS TO DEEP 
Can American Life League have permission to reprint this on our website with attribution?
Judie Brown
On Thu, Apr 30, 2015 at 6:42 AM, ABYSSUS ABYSSUM INVOCAT / DEEP CALLS TO
To the priest who wrote this: Bishop Finn’s suffering will not be wasted. What has happened has now happened. It is now up to Bishop Finn to love those who are his enemies and to resist their very tactics through the supernatural charity that our Lord will give him. Such is the call of the saints. Now it is up to the priests he ordained to do the very same; mother Church offers them this grace. The priests must resist the devil and to LOVE at a supernatural level. The spiritual warfare is ours to lose as his priests.
We must love those who hate us. We must love those who want the priesthood (and the Church) without the reality of the Cross. To this younger generation of priests: you have criticized post vatican II priests for wanting the priesthood minus the Cross (the sacrifice). Now, the young priests are given the Cross they did not choose and they must carry it; and they must carry the Cross out of sacrificial love, and not drag it; and they must suffer the pain of misunderstanding and insult as our Lord did. The devil tries to convince us to have a priesthood without sacrifice; to have a church without sacrifice… brothers, offer your hearts indeed sacrificially. Love the Cross. Offer your suffering up for your flock. Let your words be few, and your love great.
To the priest who wrote this letter: the angels will make sure the suffering Bishop Finn has endured penetrates into the very hidden roots, the very marrow of the Tree, of our local church in Kansas City. Such suffering merits the fruit of vocations. Our Lord said you will be able to test a shepherd by the fruits. And it looks like the Springtime is quietly blossoming in the darkness of this time.
Remember: Do not be surprised when men hate you.
When I first heard about the resignation of Bishop Finn it occurred to me how similar his case was to the arrest and trial and verdict against Jesus Christ – falsely accused, false charges, verdict of guilty when not, then humiliated, and sentenced to death (resignation in disgrace). In addition, like Jesus, not only civil authorities unjustly pursued his punishment, but those within the Church reveled at his disgrace as well. I am reminded of the corrupt and unjust Caiaphas, speaking as High Priest, who said, “Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” John 11:50
That this man suffers in the place of those bishops and cardinals who did commit the crime he is accused of and who hid and protected themselves so they faced no such indictment, is a kind of white martyrdom, and I pray God will reward this man who suffers such a grave injustice and disgrace.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston wanted Bishop Finn to resign. Do you think this was because of Cardinal O’Malley’s zeal for the work of his new job in the Vatican, or because of a hidden agenda against the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI.
Dear God. , this makes me want to weep. The smoke of satan has definitely entered into the church.
Christus Vinci
What a shame he wrote anonymously.
Thank you for posting this. Bishop Finn is a wonderful man and faithful bishop. May he find peace and joy in the Lord who never forsakes his children. I believe Bishop Finn and other faithful Church leaders who have been and are being persecuted are just the leading edge of the persecution from within the Church and without that will soon spread to all faithful Catholics. We must prepare ourselves to pick up our crosses and follow Jesus. “Blessed are you when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake …” — Julie
This is one of the greatest tragedies of our time. He was reportedly given terrible advice from an attorney and police official…those two should know the law and be he l d responsible, but no the good bishop has been made to suffer.