In addition, Stika removed an investigator who was looking into the allegations, replacing him with someone else who never talked to the accuser, according to the lawsuit. Stika also told multiple people that the seminarian was innocent and that the accuser was the aggressor, it says. Instead, Stika encouraged the accuser's friendship with the man, and the accuser felt pressure to comply for fear of losing his job, it says.Įven after the former employee accused the seminarian of rape, Stika let the seminarian live in his home and steadfastly defended him, the suit says. The suit filed in Chancery Court in Knox County says Stika should have known the seminarian was dangerous because he had been accused of sexual misconduct previously. In one lawsuit, a former employee at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville - who uses the pseudonym John Doe - accused a seminarian there of harassing and raping him in 2019. “No matter what anyone says, I would never tolerate sexual abuse of a minor or a vulnerable adult,” said Stika, who also shared that he was the victim of sexual abuse by a priest when he was a freshman in high school. In an interview with WVLT-TV on Tuesday, Stika said he never covered up sexual abuse. In addition to the priests’ complaints, Stika is the subject of at least two lawsuits that accuse him of mishandling sexual abuse allegations and seeking to silence the accusers. For these reasons, I asked the Holy Father for relief from my responsibilities as a diocesan bishop,” he said. I would be less than honest if I didn’t admit that some of this has weighed on me physically and emotionally. “I recognize that questions about my leadership have played out publicly in recent months. He listed diabetes, heart problems and neuropathy, among other issues, though he also said the public airing of problems in the diocese had affected him. In a statement Tuesday, Stika cited “life-threatening health issues” as part of the reason for his resignation. In media interviews, Stika strongly defended his actions and his leadership and said he worked to bring unity in the diocese. They appealed to the Vatican for “merciful relief” in 2021, citing their own mental health, sparking a Vatican investigation that led to Stika’s resignation. diocese that was marked by a remarkable revolt by some of its priests, who accused Stika of abusing his authority and protecting a seminarian accused of sexual misconduct. Stika's departure, after 14 years as bishop of Knoxville, closes a turbulent chapter for the southern U.S. The archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky, the Most Reverend Shelton Fabre, was named temporary administrator to run the diocese until a new bishop is installed.
0 kommentar(er)
