Yesterday the Holy Father named Fr. Richard F. Stika of St. Louis as the new bishop of Knoxville, TN. Bishop-elect Stika is 51 years-old and fills what, up until yesteday, was the longest vacant of all the currently
sede vacante dioceses in the U.S.
With this appointment the number of
sede vacante dioceses in these United States is nine: Biloxi, Mississippi; Charleston, South Carolina; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Duluth, Minnesota; Gallup, New Mexico; Juneau, Alaska; Oakland, California; Owensboro, Kentucky; St. Louis, Missouri.
