Stika after resignation: ‘I myself was a victim of abuse’

 

June 28, 2023

Stika after resignation: ‘I myself was a victim of abuse’

KNOXVILLE (TN)
The Pillar [Washington DC]

June 27, 2023

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Shortly after his resignation was announced Tuesday morning, Bishop Rick Stika told a Knoxville, Tennessee reporter that he had been sexually assaulted by a priest when he was a teenager. 

In addition to his comments June 27, the bishop named his alleged abuser in a Facebook exchange last week, in which he also told another alleged survivor of clerical sexual assault “you need to move on.”

“I’ve never covered up sexual abuse. I myself was a victim of sexual abuse when I was a freshman in high school, by a priest, and look at me,” Stika told Jared Austin of WVLT-TV. 

“I did the therapy, and I’m quite honest and open with it, so I see both sides of it. And no matter what anyone says, I would never tolerate sexual abuse of a minor or a vulnerable adult,” the bishop added.

Stika had not until recently made public any…