WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin

According to reports Green Bay Bishop David Ricken has been named as a defendant in a federal civil lawsuit filed by a woman who states that a deacon at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Casper Wyoming had a physically and sexually abusive relationship with her. The lawsuit also names the Diocese of Cheyenne, two priests, and Bishop Joseph Hart.

Bishop Ricken was appointed bishop of Cheyenne in 2000 and remained in Wyoming until 2008 when Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as bishop of Green Bay. The woman who filed the lawsuit, Kathy Seeley, states that she was referred to Deacon Don Stewart in 2002 for grief counseling. Seeley reports that Stewart’s “vicious physical assaults and physical sexual relationship” caused emotional and physical damage.

The Diocese of Cheyenne contends that the First Amendment prohibits such a lawsuit from moving forward, arguing that it would involve the court…