Charles Salatka

Charles Alexander Kazimieras Salatka (February 26, 1918 – March 17, 2003) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Oklahoma City from 1977 to 1992. He was the first American Catholic bishop of Lithuanian descent. Salatka previously served as Bishop of Marquette from 1968 to 1977 and as an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Grand Rapids from 1962 to 1968.

Biography

Early life Charles Salatka was born on February 26, 1918, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Charles Anthony and Mary (Balun) Salatka. Anthony was a sander at a local factory. At age 14, Salatka started attending St. Joseph's Seminary in Grand Rapids. After finishing there, he traveled to Washington D.C. to enter the Catholic University of America.

Priesthood Salatka was ordained a priest by Bishop Francis Haas for the Diocese of Grand Rapids on February 24, 1945. He was consecrated in Grand Rapids by Cardinal Egidio Vagnozzi on March 6, 1962. He was installed on March 25, 1968.

Archdiocese of Oklahoma City Pope Paul VI appointed Salatka as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City on October 11, 1977. He was installed on December 15, 1977. On September 23, 2017, Rother was beatified.

Retirement and legacy Pope John Paul II accepted Salatka's resignation as Archbishop of Oklahoma City on November 24, 1992.

In May 2003, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma settled a sexual abuse lawsuit that was filed in 1999. The plaintiff Casey Johnson claimed that he was sexually molested three times as a minor during the 1990s by James Rapp, a priest at Assumption Parish in Duncan, Oklahoma. Rapp had been accused of sexually abusing children at a Catholic junior high school in Jackson, Michigan in the 1980s. After over eight months of treatment, Salatka approved his transfer to the Archdiocese of Oklahoma, where he abused Johnson. Rapp was convicted of child sexual abuse in 1999 and sentenced to 40 years in state prison.