Stika resigned as Bishop of Knoxville at the request of Pope Francis. He had been accused of covering up the rape of a diocesan employee by a former seminarian, among other allegations of misconduct and mismanagement.[1][2]
Biography
Early life
Richard Stika was born on July 4, 1957, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Frank and Helen (née Musielak) Stika; his father was of Czech heritage and his mother Polish.[3] The third of four children, Richard Stika has two brothers, Lawrence and Robert, and Joseph was later adopted. He was baptized at St. Francis de Sales Church on July 21, 1957, and attended Epiphany of Our Lord School in South St. Louis.[4]
Stika was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop John L. May on December 14, 1985, for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.[4] After his ordination, Stika served as an associate pastor of Mary Queen of Peace Parish in Webster Groves, Missouri, until 1991. In 1991, He was appointed spiritual director of the Catholic Youth Organization chapter in the archdiocese and associate director of the Office of Vocations. Stika was named in 1991 as an associate pastor at St. Paul Parish in Fenton, Missouri. The next year, he was assigned to Cathedral of St. Louis Parish as an associate pastor, holding that position until 1994.[4]
Named vicar for priests in 2002, Stika served as both pastor of Annunziata Parish in Ladue, Missouri, and episcopal vicar for Child and Youth Protection from 2004 to 2009.[4]
Questions concerning the funding of the cathedral arose in 2021. Some diocesan priests and employees alleged that Stika took funds from diocesan education and employee benefit funds, including loan money from the US Paycheck Protection Program, to pay the $36 million cost for the cathedral. One anonymous priest said "we are nearly bankrupt... there's just not going to be cash there."[14]
Criticisms of leadership as bishop
In April 2021, an official of the Congregation for Bishops stated that the Vatican had received about ten accusations against Stika under the auspices of the motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi, which covered procedures for allegations of sexual abuse by clergy. The official said that the Vatican would probably task Archbishop Kurtz with investigating the allegations.[15]
In 2021, 11 diocesan priests, wrote to the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Christophe Pierre. They requested that the Vatican provide the diocese with "merciful relief" from Stika's leadership. The priests wrote that:[16]
Our experience of our appointed bishop varies among us, but the undersigned do share a common awareness that the past twelve years of service under Bishop Stika have been, on the whole, detrimental to priestly fraternity and even to our personal well-being.
Resignation
On May 13, 2023, The Pillar reported that Vatican officials planned to request Stika's resignation as bishop of Knoxville. This followed an investigation of administrative mismanagement and cover-up of sexual misconduct allegations against a former seminarian.[17]
Pope Francis accepted Stika's resignation on June 27, 2023.[18] Despite criticism of his leadership and recent sexual lawsuits, Stika stated that his resignation was purely health-related.[19] It was also noted that he suffered from diabetes for decades and had experienced a heart attack, heart bypass surgery and a diabetic coma that resulted in vision loss in one eye.[19]
Handling of clerical sexual abuse
On April 16, 2010, Stika revoked the ministerial privileges of Reverend William Casey. He had been accused of rape and sexual abuse by a young altar boy. When confronted by Stika and other diocesan officials, Casey admitted his guilt.[20] Casey was convicted in July 2011 of first-degree sexual misconduct and two counts of aggravated rape and sentenced to prison.[21] The Vatican laicized Casey on January 10, 2013.[22]
In 2017 Stika planned to ordain as a priest a transitional deacon of another diocese who had been dismissed from formation because of sexual misconduct allegations. This was over the objections of Knoxville priests and psychological experts. The deacon's own bishop refused to excardinate, or transfer, him to the Diocese of Knoxville, and the seminarian was not ordained.[23]
Stika was accused of "bullying" a woman who reported possible grooming and sexual abuse by a priest of his diocese in 2017.[24]
Reverend Anthony D. Punnackal, a visiting priest from India, was accused in April 2022 of "one count of sexual battery and one count of sexual battery by an authority figure" during a grief counseling session. The diocese is alleged to have mishandled that claim as well.[25]
Wojciech Sobczuk
In 2018, Stika invited Wojciech Sobczuk, a Polish seminarian, to study in the diocese on the recommendation of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz. In February 2019, an organist at Sacred Heart Cathedral complained to Stika that Sobczuk had raped and sexually harassed him. In response to these complaints, Stika allegedly accused the organist of raping Sobczuk.[2][26] Shortly after the alleged rape in Knoxville, Stika sent Sobczuk to study for the priesthood at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. Stika also recommended the two men keep in contact using Snapchat, a social media app in which messages disappear after being sent.[27]
While attending St. Meinrad, Sobczuk received special treatment from Stika and lived in the bishop's home when not at the seminary. In December 2019, Stika arranged for Sobczuk to miss more than a week of classes to accompany Stika on his ad limina visit to the Vatican. Between mid-2018 and 2020, Stika earmarked $4,000 of diocesan funds as cash gifts for Sobczuk The diocese also paid his phone bill and reimbursed him nearly $30,000 in expenses for travel, car repairs, and other personal expenditures. Sobczuk also received monthly stipends that ranged from $600 to $1,000, three to five times higher than the typical seminarian's stipend.[28]
In February 2021, the organist sued the diocese.[26] His lawsuit also mentioned that the Jesuit Order had previously expelled Sobczuk due to allegations of sexual misconduct at SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan.[29] St. Meinrad dismissed Sobczuk in March 2021 after receiving allegations of sexual misconduct from their own seminarians. These included groping and tickling other seminarians, sending them explicit Snapchat messages, and watching one seminarian undress through a window.[28]
In response to the rape allegation against Sobczuk, the diocesan review board appointed a retired law enforcement officer to conduct an investigation. Stika then dismissed the investigator for "asking all these questions".[30] Stika appointed a replacement investigator who only interviewed Sobczuk before closing his investigation.[31] The second investigator never interviewed any of the seminarians at St. Meinrad who had accused Sobczuk of harassment and assault.[citation needed]
After Sobczuk returned to Knoxville, Stika continued to classify him as a seminarian to protect his immigration status.[31] Sobczuk moved into the episcopal residence and in September 2021 accompanied Stika on a 10-day vacation in the United States.[32]
