Richard John Sklba (born September 11, 1935) is an American
prelate
A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...
of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
who served as an
auxiliary bishop of the
Archdiocese of Milwaukee
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee ( la, Archidiœcesis Milvauchiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the United States. It encompasses the City of Milwaukee, a ...
from 1979 to 2010.
Biography
Early years
Richard Sklba was born on September 11, 1935, in
Racine
Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
.
He attended
St. Catherine's High School in Racine for two years, then entered
St. Francis Seminary in St. Francis, Wisconsin.
In 1954, Sklba entered the
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy.
The Gregorian originated as ...
in Rome, earning a
Bachelor of Philosophy
Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; la, Baccalaureus Philosophiae or ) is the title of an academic degree that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's ...
degree and a
Master of Theology
Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a stand ...
degree.
Priesthood
On December 20, 1959, Sklba was
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
to the priesthood by Archbishop
Martin O’Connor for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
After his ordination, Sklba served as
assistant pastor
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
at St. Mary's Parish in
Elm Grove, Wisconsin
Elm Grove is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 6,524 at the 2020 census. Elm Grove was named as America's best suburb by Business Insider in October 2014.
Geography
Elm Grove is located at (43.047662, - ...
, for two years.
In 1962, Sklba returned to Rome to study at the
Pontifical Biblical Institute
The Pontifical Biblical Institute (also known as Biblicum) is a research and postgraduate teaching institution specialised in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies. It is an institution of the Holy See entrusted to the Society of Jesus.
His ...
and the
Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas
A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy O ...
. In 1965, he earned a
Doctor of Sacred Theology
The Doctor of Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Doctor, abbreviated STD), also sometimes known as Professor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STP), is the final theological degree in the pontifical university system of the Catholic Church, ...
degree with a dissertation entitled "The teaching function of the Pre-exilic Israelite priesthood."
After returning to Wisconsin in 1965, Sklba performed weekend
pastoral
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
work at St. Veronica Parish in
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
, and taught scripture at St. Francis Seminary for the next 11 years.
Auxiliary Bishop of Milwaukee
On November 6, 1979,
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
appointed Sklba as an
auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee and titular bishop of
Castro di Puglia
Castro (Salentino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Italian province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-eastern Italy.
History
Castro derives its name from ''Castrum Minervae'' (Latin for "Athena's castle"), which was an ancient town of th ...
.
He was consecrated on December 19, 1979 by Archbishop
Rembert Weakland
Rembert George Samuel Weakland (April 2, 1927 – August 22, 2022) was an American Benedictine monk who served as Archbishop of Milwaukee from 1977 to 2002. Shortly before his mandatory retirement at the age of 75, it was revealed in the pre ...
, with Archbishops
William Cousins and Robert Sanchez serving as
co-consecrators
A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop.
The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...
.
Sklba has been a member of the
Catholic Biblical Association of America
The Catholic Biblical Association of America (CBA) is an American learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible. The suggestion to form a permanent association of biblical scholars was made at the beginning of 1936 at a meeting in ...
since 1968 and was named its president in 1982.
In 1998, Sklba delivered a
eulogy
A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a ...
at the funeral of Lawrence Murphy, an archdiocese priest. In the eulogy, Sklba alluded to good work done by Murphy, but stated that "some shadows had been cast on his ministry". Before his death, Murphy had admitted to sexually abusing 30 students at
St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis, Wisconsin, and was suspected in 200 additional cases. Critics accused Sklba of grossly understating Murphy's crimes against children.
From 2005 to 2008, Sklba served as chair of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...
' (USCCB)
Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
The Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs is the principal ecumenical and interfaith organization of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Active since the 1960s, it is firmly rooted in the teachings of the Second Vatican ...
. In this capacity, following
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
's reformulation of the
Good Friday prayer for the Jews in the Tridentine Mass, Sklba stated:
"Central to the concerns of the Holy Father is the clear articulation that salvation
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
comes through faith in Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
and his church. It is a faith that must never be imposed but always freely chosen. The Catholic Church in the United States
With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the country's second largest religious grouping, after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church or Christian denomination where Protestantism is divided i ...
remains steadfastly committed to deepening its bonds of friendship and mutual understanding with the Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish community."
On October 18, 2010, Benedict XVI accepted Sklba's letter of resignation as auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee.
See also
*
Catholic Church hierarchy
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the Church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gif ...
*
Catholic Church in the United States
With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the country's second largest religious grouping, after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church or Christian denomination where Protestantism is divided i ...
*
Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
This is a historical list of all bishops of the Catholic Church whose sees were within the present-day boundaries of the United States, with links to the bishops who consecrated them. It includes only members of the United States Conference of Cat ...
*
List of Catholic bishops of the United States
The following is a list of bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States, including its five inhabited territories.
The U.S. Catholic Church comprises:
* 176 Latin Church dioceses led by bishops
* 18 Eastern Catholic eparchies led by e ...
*
Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops
This is a directory of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops across various Christian denominations. To find an individual who was a bishop, see the most relevant article linked below or :Bishops.
Lists
Catholic
* Bishop in the Catholic Chur ...
References
External links
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sklba, Richard J.
1935 births
Living people
People from Racine, Wisconsin
20th-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops
Religious leaders from Wisconsin
St. Francis Seminary (Wisconsin) alumni
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni
Pontifical Biblical Institute alumni
21st-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee
Catholics from Wisconsin