Pope Accepts Resignation of Milwaukee Auxiliary Bishop Sklba

WASHINGTON (October 19, 2010) —Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of auxiliary Bishop Richard Sklba of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, for reasons of age. Bishop Sklba reached the retirement age for bishops of 75 on September 11.

Bishop Sklba’s retirement was announced Monday, October 18, 2010 at the Vatican.

Richard John Sklba was born September 11, 1935, in Racine, Wisconsin. From 1954 to 1960, he studied at the Gregorian University, Rome, completing an undergraduate degree in philosophy and a graduate degree in theology. He was ordained to the priesthood in Rome for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 1959. He later attended the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) Rome, completing advanced degrees in biblical studies.

He taught Scripture for 11 years at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary, Milwaukee. In 1976, he was appointed rector of the seminary. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee on November 6, 1979, and ordained a bishop December 19 of that year.

Bishop Sklba served on various committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) including Priestly Life and Ministry, Doctrine, Liturgy, Permanent Diaconate, as well as Marriage and Family. He was appointed to several task forces including the Teaching Function of the Diocesan Bishop and the sub-committee for Inclusive Language. He chaired the sub-committee on the Review of Scripture Translations from 1991 to 2001.

Bishop Sklba served as chair of the USCCB’s Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs from 2005-2008. In that capacity, he had the privilege of introducing the nation’s religious leaders from several traditions to Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the United States in 2008.

Active in the church’s ecumenical and interreligious relationships on a national and local level, Bishop Sklba has co-chaired the national Lutheran/Catholic Dialogue since 1998. His professional memberships include the Catholic Theological Society of America and the Society for Biblical Literature. Bishop Sklba has also published articles, books, papers and occasional book reviews. In 1988, he was awarded the Catholic Theological Society of America’s John Courtney Murray Award for achievement in Theology.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee was erected in 1843 and elevated to an archdiocese in 1875. It comprises 4,758 square miles in the State of Wisconsin. It has a population of 2,315,958 people, with 657,519, or 28 percent, of them Catholic.

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Keywords: Bishop Richard Sklba, retirement, Archdiocese of Milwaukee