KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Pope Francis has appointed a bishop to the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri, permanently replacing a cleric who was convicted of failing to report a suspected child abuser.
Bishop James Johnston, who will be installed in his new post Nov. 4, said at an event introducing him Tuesday that the diocese had endured “uncertain and often difficult days” and stressed the “great need for some healing.”
Johnston, 55, will take over from Archbishop Joseph Naumann, who has been overseeing the diocese since Bishop Robert Finn resigned in April.
Finn was found guilty in 2012 of one misdemeanor count of failure to report suspected abuse and was sentenced to two years of probation.
Finn faced pressure to resign, and petition drives urged the pope to remove him. He left under canon law that allows bishops to resign early for illness or some “grave” reason making them unfit for office. He didn’t provide a specific reason for his resignation.
Prosecutors say the diocese waited six months before notifying police that concerns had been raised in 2011 about the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, whose computers were found to contain hundreds of lewd photos of young girls. Ratigan was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison and 21 years in state prison after pleading guilty to child pornography.