Robert Finn

Robert William Finn (born April 2, 1953) is an American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church.

Robert Finn was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 2, 1953, the second of five children of Theodore (Pat) and Betty Schneider Finn.

He has three sisters— Kathleen Fornwalt, Patricia Bax, and Nancy Meyer —and one brother, Richard Finn.

Finn completed his elementary education at All Souls Catholic School in Overland, Missouri.

He studied for the priesthood at archdiocesan seminaries and in Rome.

He is a 1971 graduate of St. Louis Preparatory Seminary North, and received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree at Cardinal Glennon College in Shrewsbury, Missouri, in 1975.

Finn served as a deacon in 1978 to 1979 at Saint Charles Borromeo Parish in the Archdiocese of Westminster in England.

While a seminarian at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, Finn earned a Master of Theology degree in 1979 from the Angelicum University.

On July 7, 1979, Finn was ordained a priest by Bishop John Nicholas Wurm for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis at All Souls Parish Church.

After his ordination, Finn was named as associate pastor of two parishes in the archdiocese.

He was later appointed to the faculty of Saint Francis Borgia Regional High School in Washington, Missouri, where he taught from 1983 to 1989.

During those years, he lived in residence and served as part-time pastoral associate in area parishes.

In 1989, Finn received a Master of Education Administration degree from Saint Louis University and was appointed administrator of St. Dominic High School in O'Fallon, Missouri.

During his tenure at St. Dominic's, he assisted the pastors of area parishes.

He served the St. Dominic High School community until 1996.

In 1996, Finn was appointed director of continuing formation of priests and, in 1999, while continuing as CFP Director, he was named editor of the St. Louis Review, the weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis.

Finn was named by Pope John Paul II as a chaplain to his holiness in August 2003, upon the recommendation of the Archbishop Justin Rigali.

Finn served in several other capacities including chairman of the archdiocesan Committee on the Diaconate.

Finn served as pastor of Our Holy Redeemer Parish in Webster Groves, Missouri, prior to being appointed the coadjutor bishop of Kansas City.

Before Finn's arrival, in the 2003/2004 seminary school year, the diocese reported having nine seminarians.

On May 3, 2004, Finn was named by John Paul II as coadjutor bishop (with right of succession) of the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph.

Finn was consecrated by Cardinal Raymond Burke at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City.

He also became a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus.

He served as bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph from 2005 until his forced resignation in 2015.

Finn is the only American bishop to be convicted of failure to report a priest suspected of child sex abuse to government authorities.

On May 24, 2005, the Vatican accepted Bishop Raymond Boland's request for retirement.

As coadjutor, Finn automatically succeeded Boland as sixth bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St.

Joseph.

Finn became a member of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, which is linked to the Catholic personal prelature Opus Dei.

In an interview with the Catholic Key, Finn told of how Opus Dei had helped open his heart to the work of the Holy Spirit.

Upon his arrival in the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph in 2005, Finn said that vocations to the priesthood and religious life would be 'super-priority' for his diocese.

In March 2006, Finn invited to his diocese a small order of Benedictine nuns, now titled Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles.

The entire order moved from its place of founding, Scranton, Pennsylvania.

, Finn served on the Administrative and the Priorities and Plans Committees for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and had been chairman of the Task Force on the Life and Dignity of the Human Person.

For 2007/2008, the diocese reported that there were 24 men studying for diocesan priesthood.

Finn had received a letter in May 2010 from a Catholic elementary school principal, reporting numerous instances of inappropriate behavior by Ratigan.

Finn said he failed to read the letter.

Finn's admission came five months after the diocese discovered inappropriate pictures of children on Ratigan's computer, and a week after the he was arrested on child pornography charges.

In May 2011, Finn apologized for his failure to act in a more timely manner in the case of Reverend Shawn Ratigan, who was accused of engaging in inappropriate behavior with children.

On June 9, 2011, Finn appointed former U.S. Attorney Todd P. Graves to conduct an independent investigation of diocesan policies and procedures used to address sexual misconduct by church personnel, including Ratigan.