n designing theshield—the central el-

ement in what is formallycalled the heraldic achieve-ment—a bishop has an op-portunity to depictsymbolically various as-pects of his own life andheritage and to highlightparticular aspects ofCatholic faith and devotionthat are important to him.

Every coat of arms alsoincludes external elementsthat identify the rank ofthe bearer. The formal de-scription of a coat of arms,known as the blazon (seethe box below), uses atechnical language, derivedfrom medieval French andEnglish terms, which al-lows the appearance andposition of each element inthe achievement to berecorded precisely.

A diocesan bishopshows his commitment tothe flock he shepherds bycombining his personalcoat of arms with that ofthe diocese, in a techniqueknown as impaling. Theshield is divided in halfalong the pale or centralvertical line. The arms ofthe diocese appear on thedexter side—that is, onthe side of the shield tothe viewer’s left, whichwould cover the right side(in Latin, dextera) of theperson carrying the shield.The arms of the bishop areon the sinister side—thebearer’s left, the viewer’sright.

The central feature ofthe arms of the Diocese ofKnoxville, designed byDeacon Paul Sullivan in1988, is a cross in gold(Or), taken from the armsof Pope John Paul II, whoestablished the diocese.Three small red (Gules)crosses on this large goldcross represent the threedioceses in the state ofTennessee.

The background of theshield that shows behindthe cross is divided quar-terly into areas of red andblue (Azure). Charges inthese quarters allude tonatural features that domi-nate the landscape of EastTennessee: mountains, adogwood blossom, and theTennessee River. A railroadtrestle in the bottom rightquarter honors the Irishimmigrants who broughtthe Catholic faith to thearea, many of whomworked constructing rail-roads, especially trestles.

In the center of the armsof Bishop Richard F. Stikais a chevron, shaped likean inverted V. The chevronalso resembles a carpenter’s

square, a traditional em-blem of St. Joseph, towhom the bishop has aspecial devotion. The chev-ron is divided along thecenter line (per pale) intosections of red and white(Argent). This colorationalludes to the beams oflight that St. Maria Fausti-na Kowalska saw emanat-ing from the Sacred Heartof Our Lord, who appearedto her in 1931 and spokeof the mystery of his Di-vine Mercy.

St. Faustina had an im-age made of this vision of

Our Lord, which is in-scribed at the bottom withthe Polish words JesuUfam Tobie (“Jesus, I trustin you”). These wordsfrom the image of DivineMercy form the bishop’smotto, which is written inLatin on the scroll belowthe shield.

The shield itself is blueand is charged with twosymbols in gold, aboveand below the chevron.These colors traditionallysymbolize the Blessed Vir-gin Mary, and in this con-text they also allude to the

coat of arms of the Arch-diocese of St. Louis, whereBishop Stika was born andwhich he served as a priestfor more than 23 years.The gold cross flory—thatis, a cross whose beamsend in the shape of a fleur-de-lis, or lily—and thecrown encircling it—rep-resenting St. Louis, Kingof France—also refer tothe arms of the Archdio-cese of St. Louis.

The fish that appears be-low the chevron is an an-cient symbol of the LordJesus. As early as the firstcentury AD, Greek-speak-ing Christians used a sim-ple drawing of a fish—ichthys in Greek—to iden-tify themselves and theirhouses because the firstletters of the Greek wordsfor “Jesus Christ, Son ofGod, Savior” form theword ichthys. The fish seenon the shield is a pike, anallusion to the bishop’sfamily name: the Czech

word štika refers to thisparticular type of fish.

Bishop Stika said hewanted his coat of arms tobe simple “first of all,” butsome charges on the shieldcan be seen two ways.

“I didn’t want it to beoverly complicated, andthe designer was verygood at guiding me in thatdirection, and so a numberof the symbols that are apart of the coat of armsplay a dual role,” he said.“For example, the carpen-ter’s square bespeaks mydevotion to St. Joseph. Onthe coat of arms, [thechevron is] also red andwhite, which are the col-ors of Poland, the colorsof my mother’s family.”

The bishop said that“also you can talk aboutthe colors red, white, andblue for the United States,the country which I amgratefully proud to befrom.”

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Bishop Stika’s coat of armsreflects his family and faith

Blazon for the coat of arms

Quarterly Gules and Azure, on a cross Or between afess the top edge dancetty of three points, a dog-wood flower saltirewise, three bars wavy and a

railroad trestle issuant from base all Argent, threecrosses couped of the first, impaling Azure, a chevronper pale Gules and Argent between in chief a crossflory ensigned with a coronet of fleurs-de-lis, and inbase a pike embowed, all Or. ■

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Bishop Richard F. StikaSpecial ordination edition

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atholics in St. Louis are sur-rounded by eight contempla-

tive communities, and BishopRichard F. Stika would like to seeat least one such community es-tablished in East Tennessee.

Bishop Stika has long been thechaplain for the Carmelite Mona-stery in Ladue, Mo., and hasknown the “Pink Sisters” of St.Louis for many years. The Dioceseof Knoxville’s third bishop fre-quently celebrated the 7 a.m.Mass at the Church of the Annun-ziata in Ladue, Mo., where he hadserved as pastor since 2004, thenwent down Clayton Avenue ashort way to the Carmelite churchfor the 7:30 liturgy there.

“As the Diocese of Knoxvillegrows, there are certain entitiesthat I think would be so helpfulin terms of our prayer life,” Bish-op Stika said in a March 10 inter-view. “Here in St. Louis I havebeen truly blessed to have greatfriendships with the various con-templative communities, especial-ly the Pink Sisters and theCarmelite Sisters.

“With contemplative communi-ties, it’s those prayers that are con-stant—they’re constantly beforethe Blessed Sacrament—that Ithink are part of the lifeblood ofthe church. It would be a realblessing to the Diocese of Knox-ville to eventually have a contem-plative order praying for us andpraying for the church.”

The bishop said he hopes tobring an order to East Tennessee“sooner than later,” although heisn’t sure whether the Carmelites,Pink Sisters, or another ordermight come.

“I don’t know whether thoseparticular orders will come, but itis my ultimate goal to have a con-templative community in the dio-cese,” he said.

Sister Mary Gemma, SSpSAP, issuperior of the Mount Grace Con-vent of the Sister Servants of theHoly Spirit of Perpetual Adorationin St. Louis, better known as thePink Sisters because of their rose-colored habit.

Bishop Stika “has a great valuefor contemplative life, a high es-teem of it, so I would imagine thatone of the first things he wouldwant to do is try to establish acontemplative community in hisdiocese,” said Sister Mary Gemma.

Mother Mary Joseph, OCD, issuperior of the Carmelite commu-nity in Ladue, which has 11 sisters.

“Sometimes St. Teresa referredto contemplatives as prayer war-riors who bring graces because oftheir prayer life,” she said. “Theypray for the church every day, andthey pray for the whole world.They’re an important part of adiocese for the new life and ener-gy of the diocese.”

The Carmelite chapel is a popu-lar place for St. Louisans and forvisitors.

“Our chapel is open every dayfor adoration, and we have closeto a thousand visitors a week,”said Mother Mary Joseph. “Thesepeople are not all Catholic, butGod has brought them here. Thisis a center of prayer—this isMount Carmel, [with our] beingCarmelite—where they sense thepresence of God very strongly andalso the prayer life of the sisters.We do not see the people, [and]they don’t see us, but there’s apresence in a monastery thatspeaks of God.”

Mother Mary Joseph’s blood sis-ter, Sister Stella Maris, OCD, isthe sub-prioress of the Carmelitecommunity.

“People find peace and a senseof direction— ‘getting themselvesback together,’ they say—in com-ing to the chapel, where the totalfocus is on God,” said Sister StellaMaris. “The world is so fracturedand people’s attention so dissipat-ed, and they just feel they don’t

know who they are or wherethey’re going sometimes.”

The Carmelites are among manyin the St. Louis area who will missa longtime friend when BishopStika moves to Knoxville. MotherMary Joseph has known him for“20 or 25 years,” she said.

“He’s been our chaplain forabout 10 years,” she said. “Thetime goes quickly, ever since hemoved to Annunziata [in 2004].We will miss Bishop Stika. He’s avery holy man. He speaks ofChrist in his whole demeanor, andhe brings the everyday into theGospel. He’s wonderful. He’s verygifted.”

The Carmelites expected thattheir chaplain would someday be-come a bishop.

“We always knew it would comebecause he has the gifts, the tal-ents, to be a bishop,” said MotherMary Joseph. “He’s very friendly.He brings people together. What-ever he does: he teaches, hespeaks of Christ. He’ll be a won-derful bishop.”

The Pink Sisters “weren’t sur-prised” at the news either, saidSister Mary Gemma.

“We expected him to be ap-pointed a bishop of some diocese,so we were very happy and elatedand quite proud of him.”

Sister Stella Maris said thatBishop Stika “includes everyone”in his ministry.

“He has a gift for that, in mak-ing people feel comfortable, andhe can always take any incidentthat has happened in public lifeand put it right into the Gospelfor the day,” she said. “He doesn’thave prepackaged sermons.They’re always alive with what ishappening. It’s just marvelous.”

The bishop “has a wonderfulsense of humor,” said MotherMary Joseph. “He keeps peoplelaughing. You feel comfortable,people of all denominations, theyoung, the old—everyone.”

Sister Mary Gemma has knownBishop Stika for 22 years.

“He’s been really a great friendto our convent.”

The sisters sought the futurebishop’s assistance when he wassecretary to then–St. Louis Arch-bishop Justin F. Rigali, now a car-dinal and the archbishop ofPhiladelphia.

“Any time we had special needsor even favors to ask, we would goto Monsignor Stika, and he alwayscame through with some kind ofsolution or answer to our ques-tions,” said Sister Mary Gemma.“He was a resource person for usalso and was very helpful. It waswhen he was secretary to CardinalRigali that we had special recourseto him, when there were things wehad to ask, but we knew him fromthe time he was an assistant pastoras a young priest.”

The bishop’s amiability will helphim as he leads his new flock,said Sister Mary Gemma.

“He likes people, and peoplelike him because he’s so down toearth, and he’s very helpful toeverybody,” she said. “He wouldreally try his best to help anyonewho would come to him.”

On a recent Sunday, Bishop Sti-ka visited the Pink Sisters with hisfriend Monsignor Ed Rice, voca-tion director for the Archdioceseof St. Louis.

“Monsignor Rice has been partof the Pink Sisters communitysince he was a young boy, and Icame along during my seminaryyears,” said Bishop Stika. “Thesisters put together an album ofphotographs of the two of usfrom about 1984 until today. Iwas kidding Father Rice—youcould see me gaining weight andFather Rice losing hair, but we

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‘The lifeblood of the church’Bishop Stika talks of his love for contemplatives and his hopes to have such a presence in East Tennessee. By Dan McWilliams

‘THEY PRAY FOR THE CHURCH EVERY DAY’ Bishop Stika delivers a homily in the chapel at the Carmelite Monastery on Feb.21 as the sisters watch from behind the grille at right. The bishop served as chaplain for the Carmelites during his years as pastorof the Church of the Annunziata in Ladue, Mo.

Bishop Stika (top photo) stands with Sister Paula Marie, OCD, the extern for theCarmelites, in the parlor at the monastery Feb. 20. Behind the grille are MotherMary Joseph (left), the superior of the community, and her blood sister, Sister StellaMaris, the sub-prioress. In the bottom photo, taken circa 1983, seminarian Stika vis-its the Pink Sisters with Bishop Charles R. Koester (center), longtime auxiliary bish-op of St. Louis.

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‘HE’S BROUGHT LIFE TO THE PARISH’ The Church of the Annunziata stands tall on a hill along Clayton Road in Ladue, Mo., just outside St. Louis. The roof of the parish’sschool, now used for special education by the archdiocese, may be seen behind the sign at bottom left.

Jackie Naunheim has been a parishioner at Annunziata since 1954. Above, she stands outside the Carmelite Mon-astery’s chapel after attending a Mass celebrated there by Bishop Stika on Feb. 20.

Joan Sheehan says she thinks her pastor “will make agreat bishop” for East Tennessee Catholics.

wo parishionersof the Church of

the Annunziata inLadue, Mo., recalledhow Bishop RichardF. Stika spent timewith them in theirhusbands’ final days,and each noticed theinfusion of youth theparish has receivedsince their pastor wasappointed in 2004.

Joan Sheehan ofAnnunziata hasknown the Diocese ofKnoxville’s thirdbishop for about 14years.

“My husband waschairman of theArchdiocesan Devel-opment Appeal, andwe met him then be-cause he was Arch-

bishop [Justin F.]Rigali’s right-handman, so to speak,”she said.

Her pastor’s ap-pointment as bishopcame as no surprise,she said. “We’ve beensaying for three orfour years that hewould make a goodbishop. I’m sorry it’sso soon, but I’m real-ly happy for him.”

Mrs. Sheehan saidthe bishop’s warmpersonality will be aboon to him as heleads East TennesseeCatholics.

“And he is a very,very devout and holyman. He’s fun, but hereally knows hisBible, and he’s a

prayerful, wonderfulman. I think he’llmake a great bishop.I was surprised be-cause he’s so young[51]. We’re going tomiss him so much.”

Annunziata oncehad enough youngpeople to operate itsown elementaryschool. The youthpopulation is grow-ing again among theparish’s 600 or sofamilies. Mrs. Shee-han credits BishopStika for “revitalizingour parish in a lot ofways.”

“He has brought somuch youth into theparish. He’s reallybrought the oldergeneration into

things. He appointedtwo wonderful youngpeople to take overthe youth section.”

Jackie Naunheim, a55-year Annunziataparishioner, said thatBishop Stika “struckme as someone sohappy to be here”when he was as-signed as pastor.

“He loved the inter-action with the peo-ple. He’s introduced ayouth group to thechurch. He’s broughtlife to the parish in awhole different way.It’s a parish that has alot of older parish-ioners, and he’s in-volved the childrenand the older as well.”

Mrs. Sheehan said

she “was in the parishin 1937, but it wasjust a small building,”not the 1951 Ro-manesque church theparish has now. Sheand husband Dan,minus his time in theU.S. Air Force and afew years when theylived in universitycities, spent most oftheir 53-year mar-riage as Annunziataparishioners.

Dan Sheehan diedDec. 9.

“Bishop Stika waswith me everyminute,” said Mrs.Sheehan. “Theminute he got thecall, Bishop Stika wasout there and stayedwith me all day and

all evening with mychildren, and he wasjust wonderful.”

Mrs. Naunheim’shusband died in2005.

“While he was inthe nursing home,Monsignor Stikawould come visithim, so I got to knowhim better then, andI got to know him af-ter Gene died inApril,” she said.“Monsignor was funto talk to, and he wasgood. We’re going tomiss him.”

Mrs. Naunheimhad been taking hermother to anotherparish but came backto Annunziata after

Parishioners will miss their pastorMembers of the Church of the Annunziata say that Bishop Stika revitalized their parish. By Dan McWilliams

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ishop Richard F. Sti-ka’s office staffers at

the Church of the Annun-ziata are happy for his ele-vation to bishop ofKnoxville but sad thatthey will lose their ownfriend and “boss” of morethan four years.

As pastor of the parishin Ladue, Mo., Bishop Sti-ka had his rectory and of-fice in one building.

Office manager JulieGeorge, a nine-year An-nunziata employee, has aroom between bookkeeperClarie Samuel’s and thebishop’s.

“This is a different kindof office,” she said. “We’reliterally working in some-one’s home. Even thoughwe have nice facilitieshere, it’s a confined space.The dynamics are impor-tant. It could be a miser-able job if we didn’t allwork together.”

Ms. Samuel, who hasbeen at Annunziata forseven years and full timefor the last four, said shehad mixed emotions aboutBishop Stika’s new role.

“We’re excited for him.It’s a great, great honor,but in the same respect wehave to be a little bit self-ish,” she said. “We’re los-ing a boss and a great guyand such an asset to thecity of St. Louis.”

Bishop Stika becamepastor of Annunziata in2004.

“Julie has been so vitalto the running of theparish, and she keeps it alltogether, especially when Ihad diocesan responsibili-ties that would take meaway from the parish,”

said Bishop Stika. “Clarieand Julie both were therebefore I became pastor,and both have excelled intheir commitment to theparish. In fact, the entirestaff has—the housekeep-er, Toni [Hickel], and themaintenance people.”

Ms. Samuel said that hisoutgoing personality willhelp Bishop Stika as heleads East Tennessee

Catholics.“He’s very Catholic and

believes so wholeheartedlythat I think he’s going tobe a great bishop,” shesaid. “He will really pro-mote Jesus and hischurch.”

Bishop Stika and Mrs.George could have adrummer follow themaround, providing rimshots to punctuate their

one-liners.“Every personality is dif-

ferent, and Julie and Ihave a similar sense of hu-mor sometimes,” saidBishop Stika.

Knoxville’s new shep-herd likes keeping the at-mosphere loose aroundthe Annunziata office.

“My sense is when youwork with people, you[should] get to know

them, and if it’s always aformal setting, there’s notthat interaction,” he said.“All through my priest-hood, I’ve always tried toget to know the peoplewhom I’ve worked with,and we’ve become friends.There’s always that line—in terms of leadership,they always know that ul-timately my decisioncounts. But I try to respectpeople and be kind to peo-ple, and we form friend-ships that are special.”

Being informal is “theway he is,” Mrs. Georgesaid of Bishop Stika.

“He is the most laid-back, easy-going, com-fortable people person,”she said. “That’s very im-portant to him. He’s verygenerous and accommo-dating and likes to havefun. He has a great senseof humor.”

Bishop Stika said he andthe Annunziata staffers“celebrate birthdays andgo out for meals together.”

“He gets pretty sillywhen we have birthdayparties,” said Ms. Samuel.

“We’re big on celebrat-ing birthdays here in therectory, and he’s not afraidto make fun of himself,”said Mrs. George. “I canremember specifically, af-ter he had been here ashort while, that we had abirthday lunch here in therectory. He along witheverybody else put on par-ty hats and blew kazoos,and that’s him in a nut-shell. He enjoys life.”

Ms. Samuel said she willmiss such Bishop Stikaskills as his knowledge of

‘We’re losing a boss’The staff of the Church of the Annunziata enjoyed the working atmosphere Bishop Stika created as pastor. By Dan McWilliams

QUEEN OF ALL SHE SURVEYS Julie George took a crown hanging on the top-right corner of her com-puter screen and donned it for a photo with Bishop Stika, who said his office manager “is so vital to therunning of the parish” of Annunziata.

Annunziata bookkeeper Clarie Samuel and parish-council president Tom Tucker look over the Feb. 22 bulletin. Ms. Samuel spent part of her morning Feb. 20 putting insertsinto the bulletins, which had just arrived from the printer.

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had a good laugh just seeing how we’ve aged alittle.”

East Tennessee Catholics can count on beingin the prayers of the Carmelites, said MotherMary Joseph.

“We’ll certainly be praying for the people ofKnoxville, especially on the day of the ordina-tion,” she said. “It will be a wonderful, joyfulday, I’m sure, and our prayers go with BishopStika. He’s so wonderful, and St. Louis is kindof a ‘bishop factory.’ We pray for the priestshere very much, and we’re very happy thatBishop Stika is coming to Knoxville.”

The Pink Sisters will be unable to attend theordination because they are cloistered, butthey plan to keep Bishop Stika lifted up inprayer that day.

“We certainly will—we’ll be praying for himvery specially on the 19th of March, and al-ways,” said Sister Mary Gemma. ■

The fish “represents Christ from early days”as well as the Stika family, the bishop said.

“I tried to respect my family’s history, myfamily’s background, the background that Icome from—St. Louis—as well as my devotionto the Lord in christological terms, as well asmy devotion to St. Joseph and the BlessedMother,” he said. “So it’s simple when youlook at it, but there’s a lot of interpretation thatcomes from it. That’s why I’m so grateful to thedesigner because he helped guide me with atouch of noble simplicity.”

The shield is ensigned with external ele-ments that identify the bearer as a bishop. Agold processional cross appears behind theshield. The galero, or “pilgrim’s hat,” is usedheraldically in various colors and with specificnumbers of tassels to indicate the rank of abearer of a coat of arms. A bishop uses a greengalero with three rows of green tassels. ■

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The Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpet-ual Adoration in St. Louis—a.k.a. the “Pink Sis-ters”—describe themselves as “a cloistered-

contemplative missionary congregation, living incommunity, whose members are entirely dedicat-ed to the contemplative life in the service of per-petual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.”

The rose-colored habits that give the congre-gation its nickname are worn “in honor of theHoly Spirit” and “symbolize our dedication to thethird person of the Blessed Trinity.”

German priest St. Arnold Janssen, SVD, found-ed the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters congregationin 1896 after earlier establishing the Society ofthe Divine Word for priests and brothers and theHoly Spirit Missionary Sisters. Visit the Pink Sis-ters’ website at mountgraceconvent.org.

The Discalced Nuns of the Carmel of St. Jo-seph, whose monastery is in Ladue, Mo., justoutside St. Louis, are “cloistered contemplativewomen dedicated to a life of prayer in service ofthe church.”

The sisters “day in and day out seek Jesus asour companion, our friend, the one with whomwe live. His love and friendship fills our days andnights.” St. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) reformedthe Carmelite order and is considered one of itsfounders. Visit the St. Louis Carmelites’ websiteat stormpages.com/mtcarmel. ■

More on St. Louis sisters

history (“How did you knowsomething like that?” she saidshe frequently asks him) andhis ability to hire “fantastic”people, such as the parish’syouth ministers and directorof faith formation.

“He’s been a fantastic bossfor me. He knows what hewants, and he knows what’sgoing to be best for thechurch, and it’s worked here,”she said.

Mrs. George said she heardsoon after the Annunziatapastor’s arrival in 2004 that hemight be headed for the epis-copacy someday.

“St. Louis is the biggestsmall town I know of, andthere are rumors here con-stantly,” she said.

“He had been here only ashort time, and the rumorswere already circulating atthat point that ‘he’s not goingto be here for long’ or ‘he’s go-ing to move on to bigger andbetter things.’”

Mrs. George said Bishop Sti-ka’s approachability will be abig asset in leading thechurch in East Tennessee.

“He’s very personable. Peo-ple aren’t intimidated by him.They can approach him withanything. He loves kids. Kidsdo well with him.”

Bishop Stika is also “a pret-ty savvy businessman,” sheadded.

“As far as finances go, youput a balance sheet beforehim, and he knows how toread it. He’s pretty impressivethat way.

Mrs. Hickel, also the rectorycook, has worked for BishopStika for seven years.

“I do everything for him,”she said. “I’m just like a momaround here to him. I takecare of vestments sometimes.Actually, I’m sewing one nowfor him.

“We’re happy for Monsi-gnor, but we’re also going tomiss him. I’m totally happy

for him. He deserves it. He’ssuch a good man. You’re justgoing to love him.”

Father John Ditenhafer, aretired priest in residence atAnnunziata, became theparish administrator withBishop Stika’s departure. Thetwo priests have known eachother “quite a long time,”said Father Ditenhafer,adding that he was “very sur-prised and excited” when heheard his friend would be-come a bishop.

“It’s quite a challenge toleave and pick up and moveon to a whole new area—peo-ple don’t realize how over-powering it is,” he said. “But Ithink already he realizesthere’s going to be a lot ofsupport there [in the Dioceseof Knoxville], and it shouldbe a wonderful time for him.”

Mrs. George twice used thesame phrase in an interviewabout her work at Annunzia-ta: “best job I’ve ever had.” ■

Renovated Chapel of St. Vincent de Paul shows the new bishop’s ‘sense of church’Bishop Richard F. Stika supervised an Archdiocese of St. Louis project that he called his proudest achievement whenit comes to church architecture. “When I was vicar general, one of my jobs was to oversee the renovation of ourformer seminary building, which was then called Kenrick Seminary, into what’s now the Cardinal Rigali Center—it’s where most of the [archdiocesan] offices are,” he said. “The great experience there was that I was able to restorethe chapel to its original look. It’s just a beautiful chapel.”

The chapel’s physical location in the Rigali Center is no coincidence. “[The building] really is the center of thediocese in terms of its offices, and the chapel is actually the center of the building with offshoot wings,” said BishopStika. “It shows what my sense of church is. All the activities that we do should always be connected to the center,which is the Eucharist itself.”

“The highlight of the renovation is the total face-lift of the Chapel of St. Vincent de Paul,” according to a 2001article in the St. Louis Review, the archdiocesan newspaper. “Changes had reduced the natural light in the chapelbuilt in 1916 to almost nothing. To bring light back into the chapel, soft, bright, neutral colors were selected for thewalls and ceilings. Color accents were added. All lighting fixtures were renovated.”

The Rigali Center, located in Shrewsbury, Mo., was formerly known as the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center. Thearchdiocese began using the building in 1987, when Kenrick Seminary and Cardinal Glennon College consolidatedat the site of Cardinal Glennon, the Review article stated.

Renovations to the center, completed at an estimated cost of $12 million, allowed “some 250 archdiocesan em-ployees to have space in the historic building,” the article stated.

her husband died.“Since that time I’ve joined the parish coun-

cil at Monsignor’s request and gotten muchmore involved.”

She also serves on Annunziata’s financecouncil, she added.

Bishop Stika is “just so good with people,and there isn’t a Mass I can think of where Ihaven’t walked away with something very goodto take home from one of his sermons.”

Mrs. Naunheim went on a pilgrimage to theVatican in 2006 with her pastor.

“We were a very, very privileged group ofpeople,” she said. “Monsignor and CardinalRigali met us in Italy, and the cardinal saidMass for us in the Vatican where John Paul isburied, so it was a very special trip.”

Parish-council president Tom Tucker hasknown Bishop Stika since his arrival as An-nunziata’s pastor.

“He’s a very solid priest. He leads by exam-ple, teaching us the faith and living the faith,”he said. “His motto is wanting to be the face ofChrist to everyone, and he certainly does thatand inspires us to do it too. He’ll be a greatbishop.”

Mabel Lackland, a 42-year Annunziataparishioner, has known Bishop Stika for closeto a decade. The bishop occasionally celebrat-ed Mass at Annunziata in the years before hewas assigned there. Mrs. Lackland was “quiteupset” at the news of Bishop Stika’s appoint-ment in Knoxville because she “didn’t want tolose him.”

“I was happy for him but sorry that he’s go-ing to be leaving,” she said. ■

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WIREfrom the

Percentage of Catholics down, but church still largest U.S. Christian bodyMore Americans are claiming no religion, according to the latest Religious Identification Survey.. By Chaz Muth

WASHINGTON (CNS)—A newsurvey shows the percentage ofU.S. residents who identify them-selves as Catholic has declined,but Catholicism remains thelargest body of Christians in thecountry.

Trinity College of Hartford,Conn., released its third AmericanReligious Identification Survey onMarch 9. The survey also foundthat the U.S. Catholic populationhas shifted away from the North-east toward the Southwest, thepercentage of Latinos in the U.S.Catholic Church has grown, andthe number of U.S. residentsclaiming no religion has increaseddramatically.

Most of the Christian popula-tion growth came from peoplewho identify themselves only asChristian, evangelical/born again,or nondenominational Christian.

Stephen Schneck, director of theLife Cycle Institute at TheCatholic University of America inWashington, told Catholic NewsService March 10 the biggest sur-prise in the survey for him wasthe surge in the number of Ameri-cans who don’t identify with anyreligion.

“As a trend I think it’s accelerat-ing at a faster rate than any of usexpected,” Schneck said. “To acertain extent it’s a trend we canexpect to continue. The erosionmost noticeable is with youngpeople.”

The percentage of Americanswho claimed no religion hasjumped from 8.2 in 1990, the yearof the first American ReligiousIdentification Survey, to 14.2 in2001, the year of the second one,to 15 in 2008, according to thethird survey, which was conduct-ed by Trinity’s Program on PublicValues between February and No-vember 2008. Surveyors ques-tioned 54,461 U.S. adults in the48 contiguous states by telephone.

The research methodology wasidentical to that used for the 1990and 2001 surveys and questionedthe adults in either English orSpanish. The margin of error wasless than 0.5 percent.

The percentage of Christians inthe U.S. dropped from 86.2 in1990 to 76.7 in 2001 to 76 in2008.

Ninety percent of the declinecame from the non-Catholic por-tion of the Christian population,most significantly from the main-line Protestant denominations, in-cluding Methodists, Lutherans,Presbyterians, and Episco-palians/Anglicans.

Although the number of U.S.adults who identified themselvesas Catholics increased by 11.1

million since 1990, the percentageof Catholics in the general popu-lation dropped about a point, to25 percent.

Nonetheless, Catholics remainthe largest religious group nation-ally, with 57 million people identi-fying themselves as members ofthe church.

Catholics are on the move, how-ever, with their U.S. populationshifting away from the Northeastand toward the Southwest.

“The decline of Catholicism inthe Northeast is nothing short ofstunning,” said Barry Kosmin, aprincipal investigator for the 2008survey. “Thanks to immigrationand natural increases among Lati-nos, California now has a higherproportion of Catholics than NewEngland does.”

The population shift amongCatholics is the result of two fac-tors, Schneck said.

“There is an erosion of whiteCatholics in the Northeast, andwe’re seeing more HispanicCatholics in the South and South-

west,” he said. “The future of thechurch in the United States iswith the Latinos. It’s going to be aLatino church before long. I’m 55and I believe the AmericanCatholic population will have aHispanic majority in my lifetime.”

Other key findings include thefollowing:■ Baptists—the largest non-Catholic Christian faith—in-creased their numbers by2 million since 2001 but continueto decline as a proportion of thepopulation.■ Mormons held their own pro-portionally, at 1.4 percent of thepopulation.■ The Muslim portion of the pop-ulation continues to grow, from0.3 percent in 1990 to 0.6 percentin 2008.■ Numbers in Eastern religionssuch as Buddhism more than dou-bled in the 1990s but in 2008 de-clined slightly, to just under2 million. Asian-Americans aresignificantly more apt to specifyno religious identity than other

racial or ethnic groups.■ Those who identify religiouslyas Jews continue to decline nu-merically, from 3.1 million in1990 to 2.8 million in 2001 and2.7 million in 2008, 1.2 percent ofthe population. Defined to includethose who identify as Jews by eth-nicity alone, the American Jewishpopulation has remained stableduring the past two decades.■ Only 1.6 percent of Americanscall themselves atheists or agnos-tics. Based on avowed beliefs,however, 12 percent are atheists(believe there is no God) or ag-nostics (unsure whether there is aGod), whereas 12 percent aredeistic (believe in a higher powerbut not a personal God). Thenumber of outright atheists hasnearly doubled since 2001, from900,000 to 1.6 million. Twenty-seven percent of Americans do notexpect a religious funeral at theirdeath.■ Devotees of new religious move-ments, including Wiccans andself-described pagans, have grownfaster this decade than in the1990s.■ The 13 states with the largestCatholic population in 2008 wereCalifornia, with 10.1 million;Texas, 5.8 million; New York,5.4 million; Florida, 3.7 million;Illinois, 3.1 million; Pennsylvania,2.9 million; New Jersey, 2.7 mil-lion; Massachusetts, 1.9 million;Ohio, 1.7 million; Michigan,1.5 million; Arizona, 1.4 million;Wisconsin, 1.2 million; and Mary-land, 1.1 million.

The survey authors concludedthat northern New England hasnow eclipsed the Pacific North-west as the least religious sectionof the United States; Vermont,with 34 percent of its residentsidentifying themselves as havingno religious affiliation, leads allother states as the least religiousby 9 percentage points.

“Just as with Catholic losses, itis important to note that a signifi-cant portion of the declines forthese denominations has occurredthrough generational replacementrather than individual losses ofidentity,” said Mark Gray, a re-search associate at the Center forApplied Research in the Aposto-late at Georgetown University inWashington.

“The biggest challenge formany religions today is not keep-ing their older members en-gaged,” Gray told CNS, “butattracting American youth whohave no attachments.” ■

Copyright 2009 Catholic NewsService/U.S. Conference of CatholicBishops

BY JOHN THAVIS

VATICAN CITY (CNS)—The Vatican is consideringthe preparation of a majordocument on new mediaand their implications forthe church’s communica-tions strategy.

Bishops from 82 coun-tries began a five-day meet-ing in Rome March 9 todiscuss modern media andthe new culture of commu-nications that has arisen inrecent years. The seminarwas sponsored by the Pon-tifical Council for SocialCommunications.

Archbishop Claudio Celli,the president of the pontifi-cal council, said the purposeof the seminar was to reviewwith bishops the changingcommunications scene andsee how the church shouldrespond to its challengesand opportunities.

The pontifical council, ina plenary meeting in late

October, will then decidewhether to go ahead with anew document on the sub-ject, he said.

The modern church’scommunications strategyhas been based primarilyon the Second VaticanCouncil’s 1963 decree InterMirifica on the instrumentsof social communicationsand on the pontifical coun-cil’s 1991 pastoral instruc-tion, Aetatis Novae (“At theDawn of a New Era”).

Archbishop Celli saidthat since 1991 “new me-dia are posing new ques-tions, new interests, andnew pastoral necessities.”

He said it was importantfor the church to under-stand that it’s not only newtechnological tools thathave arisen but also an en-tirely new attitude towardcommunication basedlargely on interactivity anddialogue.

“The church today can-not only give informa-tion—which is certainlyuseful, but we cannot limitourselves to that,” Arch-

bishop Celli said.“I think the church needs

to enter into a dialoguethat is increasingly richand proactive, a dialogue oflife with people who areseeking, who are distant,and who would like to finda message that is closer andmore suitable to theirpath,” he said.

For that reason, he said,his council has been push-ing bishops around theworld not only to havetheir own websites but alsoto make sure these sites areinteractive.

Unfortunately, Archbish-op Celli added, it’s been im-practical for the Vatican tomake its own web presenceinteractive because it wouldbe flooded by questionsand comments from allover the world. It’s some-thing more easily done onthe local level, he said.

Archbishop George H.Niederauer of San Francis-co, chairman of the U.S.bishops’ communicationscommittee and a partici-pant at the Vatican seminar,said the effective use ofnew media is vital in reach-ing younger generations.

“You go where they are.And where are they?They’re on Twitter and

Facebook and other[sites],” he said. “We needto be present, and we needthe young people to helpus be present.”

Archbishop Niederauersaid the change in media isin some ways like thechange from the horse tothe car a century ago.

“Because 100 years ago,if an old man bought a car,who could fix it? Hisgrandson or his son be-cause they learned the ma-chinery. They headedstraight for it; they didn’tlook back,” he said.

In a similar way today, hesaid, young people haveseized on the communica-tions opportunities of newmedia, and the churchshould welcome their tal-ents and expertise. ■

Copyright 2009 CatholicNews Service/U.S. Confer-ence of Catholic Bishops

Vatican considering document on communications in age of ‘new media’

‘You go where

[the youth]

are. And

where are

they? They’re

on Twitter and

Facebook.’

THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLICB8 ■ MARCH 22, 2009 www.dioceseofknoxvi l le .org THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLICB8 ■ MARCH 22, 2009 www.dioceseofknoxvi l le .org

BBiisshhoopp RRiicchhaarrdd SSttiikkaa

AAdd MMuullttooss AAnnnnooss!!

from your St. Louis Classmates:

Rev. Msgr. Timothy Cronin

Rev. Msgr. Patrick Hambrough

Rev. Thomas Molini

Rev. Msgr. James Ramacciotti

The Priestly Ordination Class of 1985

THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLIC MARCH 22, 2009 ■ B9www.dioceseofknoxvi l le .org

The Reverend

Monsignor Philip F.

Thoni and the

parishioners of

St. Mary’s Gatlinburg

give a hearty

welcome to

Bishop Richard Stika.

Holy FamilyRoman Catholic Church

Holy ResurrectionByzantine Catholic Mission

La Comunidad Hispana de la Diócesis de Knoxville

RECIBE CORDIALMENTE

a nuestro nuevo Obispo

RICHARD F. STIKA

¡Estamos deseosos de trabajar con Usted!

THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLICB10 ■ MARCH 22, 2009 www.dioceseofknoxvi l le .org

Welcome our newest Tennessee Volunteer

Knoxville, Tennessee(865) 523-7931

www.john23rd.org

Applause and CongratulationsBishop Richard Stika

on becoming the third bishop of Knoxville

WARMEST WISHES AND PRAYERS

The People of Immaculate Conception ChurchA historic and vibrant presence on Summit Hill and

The Mother Church for KnoxvilleServed by the Paulist Fathers

THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLIC MARCH 22, 2009 ■ B11www.dioceseofknoxvi l le .org

The couples and priests of the Diocese of Knoxville

Worldwide Marriage Encounter Community

Joyfully welcome

Bishop Richard Stika

On this occasion, we renew our commitment to the mission of

Worldwide Marriage Encounter

for the greater good of our Diocese.

“Worldwide Marriage Encounter’s Mission of renewal in the Church and change in the world is to assist couples and priests to live fully intimate and responsible relationships

by providing them with a Catholic experience and ongoing community support for such a lifestyle.”

“Love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12

THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLICB12 ■ MARCH 22, 2009 www.dioceseofknoxvi l le .org

Congratulates and

Welcomes

Bishop Richard F. Stika

May God bless your mission

in our diocese

for many years to come.

THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLIC MARCH 22, 2009 ■ B13www.dioceseofknoxvi l le .org

THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLICB14 ■ MARCH 22, 2009 www.dioceseofknoxvi l le .org

PARISH AFFILIATES

CHATTANOOGA DEANERY FIVE RIVER DEANERY CUMBERLAND MOUNTAIN DEANERY Holy Spirit Church of the Good Shepherd Blessed Sacrament Our Lady of Lourdes Holy Trinity Christ the King St. Bridget Notre Dame Our Lady of Perpetual Help St. Jude St. Mary St. Alphonsus Sts. Peter and Paul St. Patrick St. Christopher Shepherd of the Valley St. Therese St. Ann SMOKY MOUNTAIN DEANERY St. Jude Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus St. Thomas the Apostle Immaculate Conception All Saints John XXIII St. Francis of Assisi Our Lady of Fatima St. Joseph St. Mary St. Mary Holy Cross St. Joseph the Worker Holy Family Many NCCW individual members Holy Ghost

& Moderator Monsignor Mankel WELCOME

We respond to the needs of our Church, Family, Community and World by:

Water for Life • Partner with Catholic Relief Service for Women & Children • Crazy Quilt • Legislative actions at state and national levels • $10,000 raised for St. Vincent de Paul •

Hurricane Katrina • St. Claire • Biloxi • Environment • Furnished St. Elizabeth Home •

House of Discernment • Spiritual development of women • Prayer shawls for the ill and shut-ins • $50,000 raised for girls school in Southern Sudan • Support of Pro-life

campaigns • Books for Needy Children • Support of local food pantries • Much more,

including our:

KDCCW 20th Annual Convention MAY 1•2, 2009, ST. JUDE

Chattanooga, TN For more information, please call

Ann Dennis, President, 865•573•1586

Affiliated with the:

National Council of Catholic Women www.nccw.org

Mission Statement: The National Council of Catholic Women acts through its membership to support, empower, and educate all Catholic women in spirituality, leadership and service. NCCW programs respond with Gospel values to the needs of the Church and society in the modern world.

Patty Johnson Suzanne Erpenbach Ann Dennis Jane Carter

Women of Faith, Women of Action

THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLIC MARCH 22, 2009 ■ B15www.dioceseofknoxvi l le .org

Congratulations, Bishop Stika! Welcome to the Diocese of Knoxville

St. John Neumann

Catholic Church and School

Pastor Fr. John Dowling Assisting Priest Fr. Bill McNeeley

Deacons Don Amelse, Mark Syler and Mike Gouge and the entire

St. John Neumann Community welcome you to East Tennessee!

Our campus community is one of prayer, learning and fellowship.

Dotti Morris, Principal of SJN Catholic School,

invites you to visit our school, which serves grades K-8, to see the wonderful things the students of SJN are learning.

Monsignor Edward Dolan Council 8781

Proudly serving St. John Neumann for the past 25 years

Richard W. Hughes, Grand Knight

Colin M. Gates, Financial Secretary 185 members strong, and growing

In Service To One, In Service To All.

In Solidarity with our Priests.

THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLICB16 ■ MARCH 22, 2009 www.dioceseofknoxvi l le .org

The Chancery staff

welcomes

Bishop Richard Stika.

B

We look forward to

serving you as you

fulfill your mission of

teaching, sanctifying,

and governing

the Church

of East Tennessee.