The contrasting recent handling by the Vatican of two bishops has highlighted concerns about discrepancies in the disciplining of bishops, with no explanation available why one of the two bishop was dismissed while the other has been allowed to remain in office. The two cases involve Bishop Daniel Fernández Torres of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, whom … Read more
Priests of the Knoxville diocese asked a papal representative last year for “merciful relief” from the leadership of Bishop Rick Stika. More than six months later, they have received no response to their request, and there has not been any conclusion to a Vatican investigation into Stika’s leadership. “Our experience of our appointed bishop varies … Read more
A priest at St. Mary’s Catholic Church was named in a lawsuit claiming that the priest sexually battered a parishioner in 2020 and Bishop Richard Stika allowed him to continue to work for the church after receiving the assault report from law enforcement, according to court documents obtained by WVLT News. In February of 2020, … Read more
A Feb. 22 lawsuit against the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee, and its bishop, alleges that a former parish organist was raped and sexually harassed by a diocesan employee and seminarian, and that a diocesan investigation into his allegation was impeded by the bishop. Bishop Rick Stika told The Pillar last year that he removed a … Read more
Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville, Tennessee, sidelined an investigator appointed to scrutinize allegations of sexual assault and misconduct committed by a diocesan seminarian. The bishop told The Pillar he intervened because he did not believe the investigator appointed by a diocesan review board was competent for the task, and that he is convinced of the … Read more
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 … Read more
Thank Bishop Stika for setting an example for U.S. Bishops who have remained silent about Joe Biden. Tennessee Bishop Rick Stika questioned Joe Biden’s standing as a Catholic on Friday, basing that on Biden’s public stance against Church teaching regarding abortion. “Don’t understand how Mr. Biden can claim to be a good and faithful Catholic … Read more
In a recent Twitter post, the Bishop of Knoxville, Tennessee, Richard Stika, threatened to have people who request communion on the tongue to be removed from the premises. Many Catholics consider reception of communion in the hand to be irreverant. As we have pointed out before, no bishop has the authority to deny Catholics reception … Read more
Your Excellency, Thank you for your Facebook response attempting to clarify the intent of your tweet from November 24, 2019. However, we are deeply saddened by your accusation that we are trying to harass you by suggesting our readers contact you and respectfully request a correction of your misleading tweet, as well as pray for … Read more
UPDATE: Bishop Stika has responded to our post – you can read his response in this post. Earlier this week, Bishop Richard Stika of the diocese of Knoxville posted a tweet stating “Mass is Not the worship of Jesus.” His tweet was in response to a supporter of the traditional Latin Mass who cited a … Read more