VATICAN Metropolis — The bishop of Knoxville, Tennessee, resigned underneath stress Tuesday next allegations he mishandled intercourse abuse allegations and a number of of his priests complained about his leadership and conduct, sparking a Vatican investigation.
Pope Francis recognized Bishop Richard Stika’s resignation, in accordance to a a single-line assertion from the Vatican. At 65, Stika is however 10 yrs beneath the typical retirement age for bishops.
The Vatican did not detect a replacement in its statement, but the U.S. conference of Catholic bishops explained the archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky, the Most Reverend Shelton Fabre, was named short term administrator to run the diocese till a new bishop is set up.
Stika’s departure, right after 14 decades as bishop of Knoxville, closes a turbulent chapter for the southern U.S. diocese that was marked by a impressive revolt by some of its priests, who accused Stika of abusing his authority and shielding a seminarian accused of sexual misconduct. They appealed to the Vatican for “merciful relief” in 2021, citing their individual psychological wellbeing, sparking a Vatican investigation that led to Stika’s resignation.
In media interviews, Stika has strongly defended his actions and his leadership and claimed he labored to convey unity in the diocese.
In a statement Tuesday, Stika cited “life-threatening well being issues” as at least section of the motive for his resignation. He cited diabetic issues, coronary heart troubles and neuropathy, among some others.
“I recognize that questions about my management have performed out publicly in new months. I would be much less than trustworthy if I didn’t admit that some of this has weighed on me physically and emotionally. For these factors, I questioned the Holy Father for relief from my responsibilities as a diocesan bishop,” he claimed.
In addition to the priests’ issues, Stika is the topic of at least two lawsuits that accuse him of mishandling sexual abuse allegations and trying to get to silence the accusers. In a person, a former staff at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Coronary heart of Jesus in Knoxville — who utilizes the pseudonym John Doe — accused a seminarian there of harassing and raping him in 2019.
The go well with filed in Chancery Court docket in Knox County states Stika should have regarded the seminarian was harmful mainly because he experienced been accused of sexual misconduct beforehand. Alternatively, Stika inspired the accuser’s friendship with the gentleman, and the accuser felt stress to comply for panic of shedding his task, it states.
Even immediately after the previous personnel accused the seminarian of rape, Stika permit the seminarian are living in his house and steadfastly defended him, the accommodate claims. Stika also told a number of men and women that the seminarian was harmless and that the accuser was the aggressor, it says. In addition, Stika eradicated an investigator who was on the lookout into the allegations, changing him with someone else who hardly ever talked to the accuser, in accordance to the lawsuit.
In a next lawsuit, a Honduran immigrant searching for asylum in the United States accused a priest in the diocese of locking her in a home and sexually assaulting her after she went to him for grief counseling in 2020. The lady went to the police, and the diocese was mindful of the accusation but took no motion against the priest until soon after he was indicted on sexual battery charges in 2022, according to the lawsuit.
The match accuses the diocese of spreading rumors about the girl that led to her remaining shunned and harassed in the group.
The woman, who utilizes the pseudonym Jane Doe, filed a civil fit in opposition to the diocese. The diocese, in transform, hired a personal detective to look into her. The detective illegally obtained her employment data and instructed police that she had committed employment fraud, according to the lawsuit.
The go well with promises the diocese was attempting to either intimidate her into dropping each lawsuits or get her arrested and deported.
All over the identical time, a team of monks from the Diocese of Knoxville sent a letter to Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio who serves as a consultant for Pope Francis in the United States.
In the letter dated Sept. 29, 2021, the monks appealed for “merciful relief” from “the struggling we’ve endured these past 12 years” less than Stika.
Individuals yrs have been “detrimental to priestly fraternity and even to our individual nicely-staying,” the letter states. It goes on to explain “priests who are observing psychologists, using anti-depressants, thinking of early retirement, and even seeking for secular occupations.”
The Vatican authorized an investigation of the diocese, identified as an “apostolic visitation,” that took place in late 2022.
In his statement, Stika explained he hoped to continue to be in energetic ministry in his hometown of St. Louis and carry on residing with Cardinal Justin Rigali, a retired archbishop of Philadelphia with whom he has lived for the previous 12 several years in the same Knoxville bishop’s residence as the seminarian.
