KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, JAN. 12, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI appointed a priest of the clergy of St. Louis, Missouri, as the bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville.
Bishop-designate Richard Stika, 51, was serving as pastor of the church of the Annunziata.
He was born in St. Louis in 1957 and ordained in 1985.
The Diocese of Knoxville has some 56,000 Catholics, served by 70 priests, 25 permanent deacons and 53 religious.