Describing the Church’s new leader as a man of peace and prayer, Bishop Richard F. Stika spoke March 13 to the Knoxville media soon after Pope Francis was introduced to the world. Just as Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation was surprising, so was the relatively quick election of Cardinal Jorge Mario …
Diocese commits to caring for creation
Ecological retreat, Mass led by Bishop Beckman launch Care of Creation Commission By Brett McLaughlin Long before young Mark Beckman was consciously discerning his future, he was being tugged into a relationship with God the Creator as he explored the fields and forests of his native Lawrenceburg, Tenn. Now, as bishop of Knoxville, he is inviting the faithful of his community to develop Creation Care Teams in every parish of the diocese. He wants to join hands in carrying forth the call of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ to hear “the cry of the Earth” and “the cry of the poor” and to “respond by rediscovering our responsibility to be true stewards of God’s creation.” “In the spring, there would be wild roses growing in the ditches; in the summer, we would pick blackberries from the same ditches,” Bishop Beckman said, recalling his childhood during a Mass and ecological... Read more →