By Julie Godfrey Miller
Catholic Herald
Bishop holds parish meetings on Erickson case
SUPERIOR -- People in the diocese have many concerns following a hearing in Hudson, Oct. 5, in which a St. Croix County judge determined that Fr. Ryan Erickson, associate pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Hudson, probably killed Hudson funeral director Dan O'Connell and James Ellingson, and intern.
To give people a chance to discuss the situation and ask questions, Bishop Raphael M. Fliss has held two parish gatherings. The first was in Hurley, Nov. 1, and the second was in Ladysmith, Nov. 3.
Erickson served as associate pastor in Ladysmith for a time and was serving as associate pastor in Hurley when he took his own life Dec. 19, 2004.
Fliss said Fr. John Parr, pastor of the Hudson parish, will arrange a similar meeting there as soon as Parr feels the people are ready for it. Parr and a committee are currently working to help people of the parish heal.
Fr. Philip Heslin, moderator of the curia, said most of the people who attended the sessions came to get information. He said people are confused and angry, and some are still convinced Erickson is innocent of any wrongdoing. He added that people are also concerned about whether or not children have been able to express their feelings and concerns about the situations.
Fliss said people are still having difficulty coming to grips with how something like this could happen and are looking for a chance to express their feelings, anxiety, sadness, anger and confusion. They are trying to figure out who is at fault and what really happened.
Fliss and Heslin both mentioned one concerned parishioner, who volunteered time in her parish and who had worked with Erickson, liked him, and was having trouble accepting the situation. She came to express her concerns during one of the meetings.
Fliss said she came up to him personally after the meeting to tell him she appreciated the opportunity to express her anxiety, concern and confusion. "Just to get it out there and know that somebody else is aware of it. She feels she could move on now," Fliss said.
Fliss said that at each parish gathering he shared some very personal thoughts on what the tragedy and all that the circumstances around it mean to him. He said he told the people "but equally important, perhaps more important, I want listen to you people. I know you want to talk about this. I know you have questions about this and concerns -- concerns from the past, concerns for the future."
Some people continue to question the validity of the sacraments administered by Erickson.
Fliss said he assured the people that if a priest comes to the sacraments in a state of sin, or inappropriately, that would be a sin for the priest and sacrilegious, but the sacraments he conferred would still be efficacious.
"It is better if he is a holy man, and a good presider, and a good preacher to enhance the sacrament," Fliss said, "but it's still effective."
There are on-going questions, Fliss said, about any "red flags" or warning signs that there were problems with Erickson. He said people asked, "How did you let that go and not stop him?"
Fliss said he tried to address those issues in the questions and answers that were put out earlier. (The full text of the questions and answers was published in the Oct. 13 Catholic Herald and can be found in the archives on the Catholic Herald Web site at www.catholicherald.org.)
Fliss said, "Another question was, 'When did you, Bishop, and the diocese come to know ... after (Erickson) was a priest, that there was sexual abuse?' And the truth of it is that we never learned it until several days before (Erickson) died, before he took his life. A detective told Fr. Heslin."
Fliss added, "We still don't know who the (abuse) victims are. We've asked, we inquired, sent a letter to the district attorney. And that's true to this minute, right now."
Fliss said they want to reach out to the victims but can't, because they do not know their identities. "It's gone to the civil authorities now, but as church, we want to involve ourselves."
Heslin added that under the U.S. bishops' Charter for Protection of Children and Young People it is their responsibility to reach out to the victims and offer any help they need.
Fliss said, "Maybe (the victims) don't want anything said. Maybe they don't want to go public."
His message to the people concerned about the Erickson case has three parts, Fliss said.
First of all, he said, he apologized for the failures of the diocese and recited some of these failures so people could appreciate the fact that he understands where the system broke down.
Fliss said that in the second part of his message he talked about who has been harmed by Erickson's activities.
Fliss said there are many victims in the Erickson case -- those who were murdered, Erickson's family, the members of the parishes Erickson served, the staff members who worked with him at the parishes. In addition, the children he taught may have been frightened by some of the information Erickson gave them. Fliss said Erickson is reported to have given the children confusing information on religious practices, especially on matters of morality.
Thirdly, Fliss said, he asked, "Have we learned anything from this? What have we learned? What can we do about this in the future? What can we say and have happen -- put in place -- so something like this never happens again."
What has the diocese done? Fliss noted that the diocese has fully complied with the U.S. bishops' charter.
Also, Fliss said, he has told people at the parish meetings that a diocese has to rely on the seminary faculties in evaluating the suitability of seminarians, but any bishop should get to know his seminarians better.
He said in the past he has met with the diocese's seminarians a few times a year, but has not really gotten to know them. He said, "I guess I want to be more careful if there are some warning signs and deal with them better" in the future.
Fliss and Heslin added that the Vatican-run apostolic visitation of U.S. Catholic seminaries has begun.
The idea for the visits to assess the quality of formation in U.S. seminaries arose during a special meeting of the U.S. cardinals and USCCB officers with top Vatican officials in Rome in 2002.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2005