it would be a stunning rebuke oe
most powerful Catholic in East Tennessee,
Vatican, to ask Sticka for resignation.
It comes from the Pillar.
It appeared first two weeks ago,
a new source launched in 2021 by Canon
lawyers, focused on the Church ,
in their words, sober journalis.
If true, this is an order that d
come directly from the Pope ton.
10 News looks into the new scrutiny and
the future of Bishop Richard St.
But we begin with his power.
Bishop Richard Sticka controls a diocese
in East Tennessee of more than 65,000
Catholics, overseeing upwards
of 75 priests and 50 parishes.
My sisters and brothers,
evil happens in a place where so
often we least expect it to be.
The faithful have followed
his lead since Pope Benedict
the 16th appointed the St.
Louis native in 2009
during a 14 year reign Across
all aspects of the Church,
believers have listened intently
to his genteel public persona ad
thoughtful lessons from the pul,
rumors and gossip distortion. But contrasts
emerge of a defensive and disappointed
Bishop In recent secretly record
meetings with priests about the
state of the local diocese,
10 News obtained them from a
source we agreed not to name
something because of a lack of information
or for whatever other reason has lie.
In this gathering, the Bishop defends
the financial health of the chu,
pushing back on public criticism
of the $34 million cost.
Of an ornate cathedral,
including $10 million in
loans to help pay for it.
The Bishop refutes unnamed sources in
news articles criticizing the diocese
for mismanaging money and malfeasance.
And it's insulted our finance people.
Why? I think he They think like
non feasance and bankruptcy.
They blind people and they hurt every
person, every priest in this gu.
Throughout the early minutes of the meeting,
the Bishop and his team make a
case for the financial stability
and viability of the diocese.
We don't have the money
now. We have
the money, at least to me.
But the financial questions are just one
of a string of cases putting the Bishop
on the defensive and facing new scrutiny.
I think that my Catholics in Knoxville like.
Lay Catholics all over the coun,
priests all over the country,
are paying attention to the
actions of bishops and also
the accountability of bishops.
Dr. Tricia Bruce is a sociologi,
author and most recently led a
national study on the efforts by
the Catholic Church to restore
trust after widely reported abue
scandals across the country.
It's seen as a diocese,
that is. That is growing.
That in some ways is is thrivin.
Doctor Bruce has been active ine
Knoxville Catholic community for
some time and is now closely watching
the drip drip of allegations frm
unnamed priests about tyrannical like
behavior from their boss, the Bishop.
They are effectively whistleblos
too because they they know and y
potentially have access to knowe
and information that others don't when
there are problems that might a.
Two national publications,
the National Catholic Reporter d
The Pillar, started by Canon Lawyers,
have both published a series of
articles tied to internal complaints,
including a letter signed by
almost a dozen priests sent to e
Vatican critical of the bishops.
Authoritarian style, in their w,
a disparaging and depressed state of affairs.
Including reassigning priests to
new jobs as a form of punishmen.
That process is so important to
to suss out who's saying what,
what it means and what evidence
there is to back it up.
And more Dissent from the diocee
includes the perceived support from the
Bishop for a seminarian accused of rape.
A man who, despite facing inquis
from inside and outside the chu,
lived with a Bishop and joined
him on a trip to the Vatican.
A civil lawsuit filed against te
church in this case is set to go
before a judge late this week.
That case, coupled with a new
trove of documents shared onlin,
pull back a veil of secrecy at the diocese,
offering a glimpse of the frustration in
e-mail exchanges and letters from priests.
About the man who controls their future.
You know
I think it's one of those things
where it it there's a slow burnd
tell all of a sudden it boils o.
So and and the difficult thing t
as much as we talk about transparency,
there's often not a lot of transparency
and for for some good reason right there
are conversations about allegats
and reputation and the unfairnef
a reputation being spoiled unju.
The bishops own health
at age 65 is of concern.
Type one diabetes and
persistent heart trouble.
Personal struggle, mirroring the
ongoing revelations about interl
strife within the Knoxville Dioe
and calls for a change at the t,
a change that ultimately rests
in the hands of the Pope.
We have seen a tendency by the
Catholic Church to move leaders facing
scrutiny into other posts in this case.
The Knoxville Diocese is the smallest in
the country by percentage of Catholics,
so moving Bishop Sticker into
a similar role anywhere else
would be viewed as a promotion.
You can find more of our
reporting right now at wbir.com.