Church officials meet with families of men killed in Hudson funeral home
By Julie Godfrey Miller
Catholic Herald
SUPERIOR -- Members of the families of funeral director Dan O'Connell and intern James Ellison, who were killed in February 2002, in a Hudson funeral home, recently met with church officials to discuss reforms they would like to see implemented in the church.
A John Doe hearing in Hudson last October determined there was probable cause to believe that Fr. Ryan Erickson, who was then associate pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Hudson, was responsible for the deaths. Erickson committed suicide in December 2004.
Teresa Kettelkamp, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection, and Bishop Gregory Aymond, chair of the U.S. bishops' Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, traveled to Hudson for the meeting on Monday, Feb. 20. Also attending were Bishop Raphael M. Fliss of the Diocese of Superior, Fr. John Parr, current St. Patrick pastor, and Fr. Gerald Harris.
Kettlecamp had met briefly with the families when they traveled to Washington in November 2005, during the U.S. bishops' general meeting.
Kettlecamp, a former colonel of the Illinois State Police, has been executive director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection since April 2005. Aymond, who is bishop of the Diocese of Austin, Tex., was elected chair of the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People in November 2005.
In a Feb. 24 interview, Fliss provided the Catholic Herald with his comments and some notes on the meeting which he had received from Kettelkamp via e-mail.
No members of the media were allowed to attend the meeting, which Kettelkamp and Fliss said was very cordial. Kettelkamp wrote that in the past both Aymond and Fliss had expressed their deepest sympathy for the terrible losses suffered by both families, but "no words are adequate in times like this."
The O'Connell and Ellison families presented a five-point plan, which was discussed in detail in the meeting. Fliss said Aymond advised the families that he would take the plan back to his committee and brief the members on their discussions.
Fliss added that this was the normal process in the church.
Kettelkamp said that the Diocese of Superior will continue to work diligently and tirelessly to protect all children and see that anyone who would harm a child is brought to the attention of the civil authorities and never placed in a position to cause further harm.
The O'Connell-Ellison action plan includes:
* Accountability for seminary rectors who recommend, and bishops who ordain, questionable candidates for the priesthood.
* Full disclosure of names and histories of every admitted, proven or credibly accused abusive member of the clergy or of a religious order.
* Acknowledgement of mistakes made so they are not repeated and so that more lives are not lost to homicide and/or suicide.
* Tangible outreach to others who are still wounded.
& Assistance with reforming laws that endanger children and protect abusers, including criminal and civil statutes of limitation for sexual abuse cases.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2006