To the Telegram:
I would like to take a moment to express my absolute bewilderment and repulsion with Bishop Raphael Fliss and the Catholic Diocese of Superior.
I left Superior 11 years ago to move to Omaha, Neb., to attend college and start my information technology career. Before I left, I was a dedicated member of Cathedral Christ the King Church in Superior. By dedicated, I mean I spent most of my childhood and high school years at the church, helping in any way that I could. I was there through evidently the "great years" of the church, before the renovation -- when youth groups were the rage and touch football and snowball fights in the lawn happened on regular occasions.
After I left, all the "sex scandals" started popping up in one form or another all across the country. I thought to myself, "Wow! How great is it that I grew up going to Cathedral, nothing to my recollection ever happened there, nor would it." I knew that the administration of the Diocese of Superior, and Bishop Fliss in particular, would make sure that the priesthood in the diocese stayed as sacred as it should be.
So one can understand my disgust with Bishop Fliss and the diocese when I read the article about Edward Beutner on Tuesday. Bishop Fliss and the Diocese of Superior have a moral and biblical obligation to the public that they serve. To think that any cover up was done in this case, or any case for that matter, and that more children could be affected, presently or in the future, leaves me wondering why Bishop Fliss is still in his position. I had great times with Bishop Fliss through the years, and learned an immense appreciation for the Catholic Church and what it stands for. But I know one thing is certain: It does not stand for this. The greatest demise of the Catholic church is the underlying belief that they do not have to answer to anyone but themselves and God. That has been proven wrong time and time again. The Church has a responsibility to it's congregation and also to the public that it serves.
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Last time my family and I were up in Superior, my son commented about how Superior seemed behind in the times. I guess now, the community sure caught up quickly.
I hope that Bishop Fliss will issue a response, not a future response; he needs to own up to the community and issue a response to you all immediately. The longer you wait, Bishop Fliss, the more your parishioners, the community and others will question whether or not you should be in that position at all any more.
-- Thomas J. Martineau,
Sabetha, Kan.
