Most Reverend Richard F. Stika, D.D.
Administrative assistant: Peggy Humphreys
Office: 865-584-3307
Fax: 865-584-7538
Bishop Richard F. Stika was born July 4, 1957, in St. Louis, Mo. He is the son of Frank and Helen (Musielak) Stika, both deceased, and the brother of Lawrence Stika, Robert Stika, and Joseph Calabro.
The bishop was baptized July 21, 1957, at St. Francis de Sales Church in St. Louis. He attended church and grade school at Epiphany of Our Lord in South St. Louis and one year of high school at St. Augustine Minor Seminary High School in Holland, Mich., before graduating in 1975 from Bishop DuBourg High School in St. Louis.
He earned a B.S. in business from St. Louis University in 1979 and a B.A. in philosophy from Cardinal Glennon College in St. Louis in 1981. In 1985 he received a master of divinity degree from Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis.
He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis on Dec. 14, 1985, by Archbishop John L. May at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis. Since his ordination he has possessed bi-ritual faculties of the Maronite Church, an Eastern Rite of the Catholic Church.
In the early years of his priesthood Father Stika worked as an associate pastor in three parishes, including the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. He also served as associate director of the Office of Vocations for the St. Louis Archdiocese and as spiritual director for the archdiocesan Catholic Youth Council. On June 28, 1995, he was made a Prelate of Honor of His Holiness and hence known by the title Monsignor.
In 2004 he became pastor of the Church of the Annunziata in Ladue, Mo., in which role he served until Pope Benedict XVI appointed him bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville. He was ordained Knoxville’s ordinary on March 19, 2009.wil
He has held several leadership positions in the St. Louis Archdiocese, serving as vicar general (1997 to 2004), chancellor (1994 to 2004), and secretary to Archbishop Justin Rigali (1994 to 1997). From 2004 until his present, Bishop Stika served as episcopal vicar of the archdiocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection, the archbishop’s delegate to the Archdiocesan Review Board, and chair of the Child Safety Committee. In 1999 then–Monsignor Stika coordinated for the archdiocese the visit of Pope John Paul II to St. Louis.
Bishop Stika considers Pope John Paul II his “episcopal grandfather” because the pope ordained Cardinal Rigali an archbishop in 1985, and the cardinal ordained Monsignor Stika a bishop. The bishop met John Paul II numerous times on trips to the Vatican. In February 2009 he visited Pope Benedict XVI to thank him personally for appointing him bishop of Knoxville.
Bishop Stika is a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus, a member of the Equestrian Order of the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre, and a board member of the Daughters of St. Paul of St. Louis. He has a strong love for contemplative religious orders and hopes to bring such an order to the Diocese of Knoxville.
He is a die-hard fan and supporter of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. He enjoys spending time with his dog, Rosie, a cockapoo (bred by crossing a cocker spaniel and a poodle). He appreciates a variety of music, from classical to the Beatles and Frank Sinatra. He likes to work with his hands and loves to read biographies and history books concerning the Civil War.
View Bishop Stika’s coat of arms.
