"If one person said that I said that, does that make it a fact?" he asked. Reached by email Tuesday, Stika said he does have a sense of humor, but that he has no memory of making such a comment. In the priest's letter to Pierre, they recalled the bishop joking about a diocesan official's COVID-19 mask, saying it reminded him of a woman's brassiere and inquiring as to the "cup size." Stika and the diocese argued the detractors constituted a vocal minority of the diocese's 70,000 Catholics and said they were being as transparent as they could given the ongoing litigation over the sexual misconduct claims.Īvuncular in disposition, Stika could be funny and irreverent - though some balked at what they described as his tendency to show up late for events and felt his attempts at levity could misfire. The letter said Stika had stifled dissent, mishandled and been secretive about sexual abuse allegations within the diocese, mishandled diocese finances and ignored calls for clarity on all fronts. In late 2022 more than 100 Chattanooga Catholics sent a letter to Vatican leadership saying Stika had failed as a leader, leaving parishioners "bewildered in the dark with no shepherd." Priests' concerns trickled into the laity. ( READ MORE: Chattanooga Catholics call for removal of Knoxville bishop, allege mishandling of sexual abuse claims, finances) "How," the priests wrote, "do we make recourse against the bishop when the bishop publicly and persistently reprimands his priests for exposing perceived wrongdoing that he appears to be obstinately against investigating?" "The past 12 years of service under Bishop Stika have been, on the whole, detrimental to priestly fraternity and even to our personal well-being," wrote a group of diocese priests in a 2021 letter to Archbishop Christopher Pierre, the Vatican's representative in the United States, a copy of which was obtained by the Times Free Press. Some have alleged he has a tendency to blame others and issues decrees without meaningfully consulting the people they affect. The diocese has denied wrongdoing in court, but Stika's handling of those and other matters has at times left priests and parishioners feeling bewildered at his judgment. Another ongoing lawsuit accused a seminarian of raping a fellow diocesan employee in 2019 and accused Stika of intimidating the alleged victim and impeding an investigation. In one suit, a Honduran asylum seeker who said a priest at her Catholic church in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, sexually assaulted her in 2020 said the diocese intentionally obstructed a law enforcement investigation. Stika has been accused in at least two ongoing lawsuits of mishandling investigations into claims of sexual misconduct. Stika has faced considerable criticism in recent years, some of it rising into the legal system. Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / The Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, completed in 2018, is the seat of the Bishop of Knoxville. By email Tuesday, he told the Chattanooga Times Free Press the diocese during his 14 years has been highly successful. The third and longest-serving bishop of the Knoxville diocese, Stika has presided over the ordination of 24 priests, the construction of a new cathedral in Knoxville and convert rates that one study early in his tenure found were among the highest in the nation. "He leaves in disgrace."Īccording to the Association of Catholic Priests, the normal retirement age for Catholic priests is 75. "Do not be fooled," she wrote in an email Tuesday morning. She was skeptical of Stika's suggestion that he was retiring largely of his own volition and for health reasons. One of Stika's most vocal detractors has been Susan Vance of the Tennessee chapter of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "For these reasons, I asked the Holy Father for relief from my responsibilities as a diocesan bishop." "I would be less than honest if I didn't admit that some of this has weighed on me physically and emotionally," Stika wrote. In explaining the resignation he submitted to Pope Francis, Stika noted serious health issues he has recently faced and public criticism of his leadership. "People will speculate on why I am doing this," Stika, 65, wrote in an email Tuesday announcing his retirement to priests, deacons and other diocesean figures. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced Tuesday. Fabre will serve as administrator until a new bishop is installed, the U.S. Stika has served as bishop since 2009 for the East Tennessee diocese, which also includes Chattanooga and Johnson City.Īrchbishop of Louisville Shelton J. The Roman Catholic bishop of Knoxville, Richard Stika, has resigned after several turbulent years during which hundreds of parishioners called for his removal and after several priests raised concerns to the Vatican about his leadership.
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