Fr. Joe removed from St. John Neumann
He will remain an active priest for the Diocese of Knoxville.
Dear Friends,
In a letter issued on March 4, 2025, Bishop Mark Beckman announced that he has removed Father Joseph Reed as Pastor of St. John Neumann Catholic Church and School.
“I have consulted our Priest Personnel Board to seek their counsel regarding a future assignment for Fr. Joe with a seasoned pastor,” wrote Bp. Beckman.
Bp. Beckman wrote in his letter that “civil authorities found no evidence of a crime committed by Fr. Reed.” However, Bp. Beckman decided to remove Fr. Reed as Pastor of St. John Neumann on the counsel of a contracted investigator and the Diocesan Review Board. These entities noted “frequent boundary violations with both minors and adults.” The letter did not describe the specific nature of these violations.
According to the Diocese’s website, the Diocesan Review Board includes Christopher J. Manning, a man who was involved in the botched investigation of former seminarian, Wojciech Sobczuk. According to The Pillar, a Catholic news outlet, Bishop Richard Stika tapped Manning to investigate the accusation of rape against Sobczuk, after he (Stika) dismissed the first investigator for “asking too many questions.”
However, in his investigation, Manning never interviewed anyone but Sobczuk:
Manning told The Pillar in April that his investigation consisted only of interviewing the accused seminarian, because he was told by other members of the review board that neither the alleged 2019 victim nor the seminarians were willing to be interviewed. He conceded that he had not made efforts to contact them personally. (“Knoxville bishop replaced investigator in seminarian probe”, The Pillar, May 17, 2021)
In the same article, The Pillar quoted Bp. Stika describing a friendly relationship with Manning:
“I haven’t been talking to Chris too much about [the investigation], especially. I think we’re supposed to have lunch one day, and, because I baptized his daughter…”
(Note: Christopher J. Manning is no relation to Fr. Christopher Manning, a priest of the Diocese of Knoxville.)
Under Bp. Stika, Fr. Reed acted to prevent and report problems with the same seminarian, Sobczuk. As Vocations Director, Fr. Reed refused to recommend Sobczuk as a seminarian, yet Bp. Stika accepted him anyway. When Fr. Reed learned that Sobczuk had been accused of raping a diocesan employee, and that the Diocese had failed to properly investigate, he and a few other priests reported Bp. Stika to our Apostolic Nuncio. Fr. Reed also reported Bp. Stika to the Dicastery of Bishops.
The diocesan employee who alleged that Sobczuk raped him went on to sue the Diocese of Knoxville and Bp. Stika under the pseudonym, John Doe. Due to his former role as Vocations Director, Fr. Reed may be a key witness for Doe in this lawsuit, which is now in the discovery phase.
The 7:00p.m. Mass at St. John Neumann Catholic Church on March 5 (Ash Wednesday) will be offered for Fr. Reed.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
Jennifer Hay
Jennifer.Hay@KnoxvilleNobility.com
865.804.9721
On a personal note: I am deeply grieved by what has happened to Fr. Joe. Although I have not heard from him since the morning of Dec. 12, 2024, I can say with confidence that it would break his heart to learn that anyone has left the Catholic Faith over this trauma. If you want to honor Fr. Joe, keep the faith for which he has sacrificed everything. In the Gospel reading for March 4, 2025, we heard these words of consolation:
Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in that age to come (Mark 10:28-30, emphasis mine.)"
God always keeps his promises.
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This case troubles me.
Let me acknowledge first that I have never met Fr. Reed.
On the one hand, we have someone who was intimately involved in the removal of Bishop Stika and who likely made enemies as a result. He’s also a potential witness in a civil case against the diocese. On the other hand, I have been fooled before by charismatic and beloved priests whom I thought could never do anything terrible only to be proven wrong, so I cannot just dismiss all of this out of hand. I am trying to also keep in mind that the review board determined that the complaints were “credible” and “serious violations of the Code of Pastoral Conduct.” I am familiar with a couple members of the review board, and I find it hard to believe that these individuals would railroad Fr. Reed or retaliate against him.
But I still have questions.
1. The statement says Fr. Reed’s actions were “grave and unbecoming of the holy priesthood.” Yet parishioners are claiming this was only about giving a car ride to a minor or giving hugs. Does giving a car ride to a minor or hugs really rise to the level of “grave and unbecoming of the priesthood”? My gut tells me there must be more involved here than a car ride and hugs. Am I missing something?
2. Even though these actions were “grave and unbecoming,” he is being reassigned. Is it really responsible to reassign someone you claim has committed such serious misconduct? That’s how the church got in trouble in the first place. Either his actions were “grave and unbecoming” and therefore he should not be reassigned or they were not. I don’t get it.
My advice to the parishioners of SJN: refuse to put ANY money in the collection basket.
Every dollar you give is taxed and a percentage goes to the diocese. There is no way to ensure your money will stay in the parish and not be sent to the diocese.
Instead, drop a note saying you will not give until the diocese is more transparent and willing to answer more questions about all of this. They owe it to the parishioners to hold a town hall meeting where people can ask questions. If enough parishioners consistently refuse to give money, the diocese may be forced to respond—possibly. This would obviously require a great majority of parishioners refusing to give for the diocese to get the message and even then it is only a possibility, not a guarantee.
I’m not optimistic about learning more because transparency is sorely lacking in the church. For example, there was supposed to be an independent audit after all the allegations of financial mismanagement by Stika. Has anyone ever seen the results of the audit? They don’t feel a need to be transparent since people continue to give money.
Thank you. Hoping Fr. Joe will find peace in the love of the people who believe in him🥲😥