As US News reported, Knoxville Tennessee’s bishop resigned after sexual abuse lawsuits. Bishop Richard Stika resigned on June 27, 2023. The bishop stated health reasons were part of his reason for resignation. However, he admitted that the lawsuits which have plagued his ministry contributed to his resignation. Cases such as this are the reason the truth of The Torah’s words about sexual crimes must be taught correctly.
Bishop Resigned After Sexual Abuse Lawsuits
The bishop was recently accused of protecting a seminarian. The seminarian was accused of harassing and raping a male. The victim was a former employee of the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The lawsuit stated that after the employee accused the seminarian of rape Stika still allowed the accused party to live in his home. He further removed an investigator and replaced them with someone who had never spoken to the victim. He is further accused of telling people that the victim was the aggressor and not to be believed.
In a second lawsuit, the bishop, who resigned after sexual abuse lawsuits, is accused of spreading rumors about a victim and illegally obtaining her employment history in a bid to get her to drop charges or be deported. The victim was a Honduran immigrant seeking asylum. She accused a priest of locking her up and sexually assaulting her. The diocese took no action against the priest till he was indicted.
Torah Teachings About Sexual Abuse
If the true Torah was taught this would never occur. A priest, who claims to be close to G-d and a believer in The Bible, would never defend rape. As we spoke about in a previous article, The Torah gives two very clear punishments for rape. The rapist must marry and provide for his victim. If the victim or their family does not wish for the marriage to occur, the rapist should be killed, along with his family.
Rapist Must Marry His Victim
Deuteronomy 22:28–29 tells us “If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, 29 then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days.”
Sometimes, this law is read today as problematic. The Bible tells a rape victim she has to marry her rapist, people often say in outrage. However, the law was written for the victim. At that time in history, a woman was not able to work outside the home. She also could not marry if she was not a virgin. Therefore, by raping her a man had deprived her of her livelihood. This was especially true should her family not believe her. If she was thrown out of her father’s home for impurity, she would be left homeless and penniless. This law was meant to ensure that the rapist had to provide for her.
A Rapist Should Be Put to Death
However, The Torah does give us an alternative. In the case of Dinah, her family did believe her, and they did not want her to marry her rapist. So, they told the rapist she would marry him if all his men were circumcised. Then, while all the men of their village lie in pain, her brothers snuck into their village, plundered it, and killed everyone. G-d still sided with the Israelites. Clearly, G-d is always on the side of the victim.
No Mercy For Bishop Who Resigned After Sexual Abuse Lawsuits
Clearly, The Torah teaches us that we should never defend a rapist. Either the rapist is to bear a huge financial burden for the remainder of their life or be put to death. Which sentence is enforced is at the discretion of the victim and their families. By defending this type of behavior Bishop, Richard Stika, has violated the law of G-d. Any “priest” who would do such a thing should be immediately relieved of their position. They are not truly a priest of the one true G-d.
Death To the Man Who Says He Is a Priest But Is Not
Indeed, a priest violating G-d’s law was met with death. Leviticus 10:1-2 tells us, “1Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the LORD.” It is wrong that any man should break G-d’s law, but for a priest to willingly break G-d’s law is an offense punishable by death.
If the laws pertaining to sex crimes were taught accurately in The Catholic Church, such cases would be met with harsh discipline. Instead, the church rarely teaches these laws and has covered up many sexual scandals, even those involving children. This is what happens when a church stresses celibacy over the marriage prescribed in The Torah and fails to teach The Law. We must return to a world in which the men who claimed to be of G-d obeyed his law.
Thus, the Bishop, who Resigned After Sexual Abuse Lawsuits, deserves no mercy. Let us pray that justice will roll down like water in these lawsuits. Let us pray he and his rapist friends spend the rest of their days behind bars. Yet more importantly, let us pray for the victims, that they find peace. Let us pray for The Torah to return to the hearts of man and to the institutions that claim to do G-d’s work.
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