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Bishop Stika of Knoxville was an auxiliary in St. Louis, first with now retired Cardinal Rigali and then with the incoming now Cardinal Burke. I have emails from a former St. Louis chancery official who alleges that Stika was involved in a cabal to remove Burke.
No, he had one or more Chancery positions, but he was not an auxiliary. He only became a bishop when he was installed in Knoxville. About a cabal—I don’t know.
You are right. '94-'04 -- Chancellor which included being vicar general '97-'04. In 1999, he was in charge of the visit of John Paul II to St. Louis. This ingratiated him with the Vatican leading to his promotion to Bishop of Knoxville.
If JP remembered him specifically I’d be surprised. It was the cardinal’s relentless promotion of him on the Congregation for Bishops that did the trick, even in the face of pushback due to his already compromised health.