The Diocese of Nashville on Friday released a report naming 13 former priests who served in that diocese who have been accused of sexually abusing a minor. We are grateful that the Diocese of Nashville has decided to release this report. We were given an opportunity to review it for the first time this week and we regret the actions …
Diocesan collection for victims of California wildfires and recent hurricanes
Victims of the recent wildfires in California and others impacted by Hurricanes Florence and Michael need our help. The Diocese of Knoxville is requesting donations for disaster relief across our country. Funds will assist the ongoing efforts of Catholic Charities USA to provide humanitarian aid for the immediate help of those in need in the affected areas as well as the …
Bishop comments on former St. Mary’s Hospital closing
Bishop Richard F. Stika reflected on the announcement that the former St. Mary’s Hospital will close its doors as a health-care facility in late December. The decision was announced on Oct. 26 by the hospital’s current owners. “I think about the generations of East Tennesseans who were born at St. Mary’s Hospital and the many others who were returned to …
Mass on the Radio Archives
September 23: Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time/Father David Boettner celebrating September 16: Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time/Father David Boettner celebrating September 9: Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time/Father David Boettner celebrating with special homily from Bishop Richard F. Stika September 2: Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time/Father Arthur Torres celebrating August 26: Homily at 9 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral by Bishop …
Statement from Bishop Richard F. Stika on Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
A statement from Bishop Richard F. Stika following the shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27: I want to express my deepest sense of sorrow for the shocking display of hatred and violence that took place in Pittsburgh on Saturday. The motivation to take precious and innocent life is difficult to understand. I pray for the many victims …
Morning Masses offered at cathedral
Morning Masses will be offered at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville while parish priests are on a diocesan retreat this week. Father Brent Shelton, pastor of St. Mary Church in Oak Ridge, will celebrate Mass on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 6:30 a.m. His Eminence, Cardinal Justin Rigali, will celebrate Masses at 6:30 a.m. and …
Bishops issue statement on scheduled Zagorski execution
The following statement was issued by Bishop Richard F. Stika of the Diocese of Knoxville and Bishop J. Mark Spalding of the Diocese of Nashville at 5 p.m ET on Oct. 10, 2018: Note: According to a report in the Nashville Tennessean newspaper, a federal appeals court on Wednesday night has granted a request to delay Zagorski’s execution. We, the bishops …
El Obispo Stika emite una carta pastoral después del informe de abuso en Pennsylvania
El jueves el Obispo Richard F. Stika emitió una carta pastoral a sacerdotes, diáconos, comunidades religiosas y a los feligreses de la Diócesis de Knoxville. La carta habla del informe del Fiscal General de Pennsylvania sobre los abusos que se cometieron en ese estado y el Obispo la emite después de dos días de lectura detallada del informe. Agosto 16, …
Bishop Stika issues pastoral letter after Pennsylvania abuse report
Bishop Richard F. Stika issued a pastoral letter to priests, pastors, deacons, religious communities, and the parishioners of the Diocese of Knoxville on Thursday. The letter addresses a report by the Pennsylvania attorney general on abuses that took place in that state and comes after two days of detailed reading of the report by the bishop. Carta pastoral de obispo …
Catholic bishops of Knoxville and Nashville react to Billy Ray Irick execution
Billy Ray Irick, 59, was executed at 7:48 p.m. local time on Thursday in Nashville for the brutal rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl in Knox Co., Tenn. in 1985. Irick had been on death row for more than 30 years. Following the execution by lethal injection, the Catholic bishops of Knoxville and Nashville issued a statement: We, as …
Bishops of Knoxville and Nashville issue statement on pending execution
Bishop Richard F. Stika of the Diocese of Knoxville and Bishop J. Mark Spalding of the Diocese of Nashville have issued this statement regarding the scheduled execution of 59-year-old Billy Ray Irick sometime after 7 p.m. CT on Aug. 9. We, the Catholic bishops of the Dioceses of Knoxville and Nashville, charged with shepherding the people of our state from …
Bishop Stika statement on Archbishop McCarrick
A statement from Bishop Richard F. Stika on Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, who recently resigned from the College of Cardinals following sexual abuse allegations: Like many of you, I have struggled in recent weeks with my personal reaction to reports that Archbishop Theodore McCarrick sexually abused individuals during his years as a priest and bishop. I also recognize the anger …
Pope revises catechism to say death penalty is ‘inadmissible’
VATICAN CITY (by CINDY WOODEN- CNS) — Building on the development of Catholic Church teaching against capital punishment, Pope Francis has ordered a revision of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to assert “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” and to commit the church to working toward its …
Tennessee’s Bishops to Gov. Haslam: Please Halt the Executions!
Bishop Richard F. Stika has joined Tennessee’s two other Catholic bishops in urging Gov. Bill Haslam to stop the upcoming scheduled executions of at least three men in the state prison system. In a letter to Gov. Haslam, Bishop Stika, Bishop Martin D. Holley of Memphis, and Bishop J. Mark Spalding of Nashville have urged the governor “to use your …