The Vatican has received multiple allegations of administrative misconduct against Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville, and is expected to authorize an investigation under the terms of Vos estis lux mundi, The Pillar has learned.
Complaints filed against the bishop allege that Stika impeded or restricted investigations into accusations of serial sexual misconduct by a seminarian who was living in his home, according to multiple sources in both the United States and Rome.
But Stika told The Pillar Thursday that he has acted properly, and is satisfied with the diocese’s handling of a series of misconduct reports against the seminarian.
In February, the seminarian was dismissed from seminary studies at an institution outside the diocese, but continues to be identified as a seminarian by the Knoxville diocese.
The seminarian was dismissed from the seminary because of several allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct, which Stika characterized as “boundary violations.”
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