WISCONSIN
Winona Daily News
By Shannon Fiecke Winona Daily News
The bishop who supervised the late Rev. Ryan Erickson apologized Thursday for not investigating more about the former Winona seminarian believed to have sexually abused children and murdered two funeral home workers, but according to church records, repeated psychological evaluations by the diocese concluded Erickson was healthy and would make a good priest.
“Ultimate responsibility for much of what has taken place rests upon my shoulders,” Diocese of Superior Bishop Raphael Fliss said Thursday in a three-page statement. “I am truly sorry for not doing more to find out what really happened.”
Fliss also shared what the diocese knew of sexual allegations against Erickson, before and after he was ordained in 1999, and the steps it took to evaluate him.