One of the first highlights of our pilgrimage was our visit to the monastery of Jasna Góra, where the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa is enshrined. As I said in my last column, I am especially drawn to this image of Our Lady holding the child Jesus. Eastern Catholics have a term for icons in which Mary points to Jesus, as she does in this icon, that means “one who shows the way.” I think of this when I hear the motherly voice of my GPS, who directs me along my travels, especially where the roads are unfamiliar.

When Pope John Paul II visited this shrine, he used to say, “I have come to listen to the heartbeat of my Mother.” If we stay close to the heartbeat of our Mother, we will never lose our way.

Pilgrimages not only help to reorient our steps toward the infinite but also help us to re-consecrate places of horrible desecration and sin. One such place, which John Paul II called the “Golgotha of the contemporary world,” was the Auschwitz death camp. The joyful mood of our pilgrimage quickly became somber and silent as the ordinary sites along our route of travel gave way to the entrance of Auschwitz, where more than 1.1 million people perished during the Holocaust.

As we made our solemn procession through the camp, we paused where saint and martyr Father Maximilian Kolbe willingly took the place of one of 10 men condemned to death by starvation. Knowing their great fear, St. Maximilian wanted to accompany them in their final journey to “show them the way” he had learned from his Mother, whom he called the Immaculata. In the starvation bunker with the other condemned men, he preached his finest homily during the liturgy of his martyrdom.

As we departed this place of such extraordinary suffering and death, I was struck by how quickly its barbed-wire confines faded from view as we again returned to ordinary surroundings. But isn’t it often true that evil lies alongside the ordinary and frequently goes unnoticed or ignored?

Isn’t this the familiar story of the beaten and stripped man, left half dead and ignored along the roadside of history, as in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)?

Just think about how many drive by one of our abortion clinics in Knoxville every day without realizing the evil occurring there or maybe choosing not to notice.

And what about the many other terrible wrongs, such as slavery and the long struggle to obtain civil rights, the injustices against Native Americans, and the mean-spirited bashing of immigrants, to whom we all bear a particular resemblance as we journey to our true homeland?

After such an emotional experience in Auschwitz, we visited the birthplace of John Paul II in Wadowice. A personal blessing for me was to be able to lower my pectoral cross into the waters of the baptismal font of the church where John Paul II had been baptized. But the highlight of our pilgrimage was our visit to an orphanage run by religious sisters in the building that had once been John Paul II’s preschool. As the children, some of whom were physically or mentally handicapped, broke into the traditional Polish children’s songs my mom and her sisters used to sing, I was overwhelmed by these orphans’ simple joy.

Another blessing for me occurred during our visit to Kraków, when I was able to meet with Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Archbishop of Kraków, who had been Pope John Paul II’s personal secretary before and after his election to the papacy. After John Paul II’s death, he wrote of his experiences in the book A Life with Karol (Doubleday, 2008). It is a fascinating story of a man and pope who stayed close to his Mother’s heartbeat and followed Our Lord to his true homeland and ours.

While in Kraków, we also visited the church where St. Faustina is buried. As many of you know, my episcopal motto is Iesu confido in te: “Jesus, I trust in you,” the words Jesus directed St. Faustina to have written beneath the image of his Divine Mercy.

These words are so important to recall because we are all foreigners traveling on a road where the only passport of real value is the love of the Good Samaritan and the one language we need to know is the language of faith.

Bishop Stika's letter to all parishes in the Diocese of Knoxville 4-17-2010 from Deacon Patrick Murphy-Racey on Vimeo.

Press conference, the Diocese of Knoxville, April 15, 2010, Bishop Richard F. Stika from Deacon Patrick Murphy-Racey on Vimeo.

Here's the text of my statement:

Following is the statement Bishop Richard F. Stika delivered to media representatives during a press conference at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 15.

I want to thank you all for being here this morning.

Last week when I spoke to the media about the topic of clergy sexual abuse, I was not aware of a credible allegation against any priest in the Diocese of Knoxville.

Knowing how difficult it is for a victim of sexual abuse to come forward, I want to personally thank Mr. Warren Tucker for his courage in bringing this allegation to our attention [on April 14]. I know that SNAP has been working with Mr. Tucker and I appreciate their assistance.

Yesterday morning Mr. Tucker spoke with our Chancellor, Deacon Sean Smith, and a member of our Diocesan Review Board. Mr. Tucker has accused Father Bill Casey, a retired priest of the Diocese of Knoxville, of sexually abusing him while Father Casey was pastor of St. Dominic Church in Kingsport between 1975 and 1980. At that time St. Dominic Church was a part of the Diocese of Nashville.

Following Deacon Smith’s meeting with Mr. Tucker, we immediately adhered to the process outlined in our Policy and Procedure Relating to Sexual Misconduct. This policy is available on our website. I have also spoken with Bishop David Choby in the Diocese of Nashville since this occurred when East Tennessee was part of the Diocese of Nashville.

Last night I met with Father Bill Casey, and he admitted that there is credibility to Mr. Tucker’s statement. Father Casey is ashamed of his actions and truly saddened by the harm he has caused Mr. Tucker, his family, the Church, and its faithful.

Prior to Deacon Smith’s meeting with Mr. Tucker yesterday morning, we had no knowledge of Mr. Tucker’s experiences, and Mr. Tucker can verify that fact. At this time we have still not been notified by McDowell County, N.C., authorities that an investigation has been initiated.

As Bishop of the Catholic Church of East Tennessee, I want to apologize to Mr. Tucker, his family and to anyone else who may have been harmed by Father Casey.

I am sending a letter to all of our parishes to inform the parishioners of these allegations. I will ask that the letters be read aloud at Mass this weekend and inviting any others who may have been harmed to come forward.

Our first concern is for Mr. Tucker, his family, and anyone else who may have been harmed by Father Casey. We want to help him in his healing process in any way we can.

I want to assure you that Father Casey has been removed from ministry and will never again function as a priest in the Catholic Church.