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The
Most Reverend Richard J. Sklba
Vicar General/Auxiliary Bishop
of Milwaukee
Bishop Richard J. Sklba was born in Racine,
Wisconsin, on September 11, 1935. Baptized at Holy Trinity Parish,
he attended public elementary school outside of the city of
Racine. Bishop Sklba spent two years at St. Catherine High School
in Racine before transferring to St. Francis Minor Seminary
in Milwaukee to finish high school and begin his college education.
From 1954 to 1960 he studied in Rome, completing his undergraduate
studies and receiving his first of three advanced degrees in
scripture. In 1960 he was ordained and became assistant pastor
of St. Mary's Parish in Elm Grove for two years. He returned
to Rome from 1962 to 1965 to complete the equivalent of a master's
and doctorate degree in sacred scripture at the Pontifical Biblical
Institute and the University of St. Thomas Aquinas "Angelicum".
For the next 11 years, he provided weekend pastoral service
to St. Veronica Parish in Milwaukee and taught scripture at
St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee.
Bishop Sklba was one of America's younger
bishops when ordained on December 19, 1979, and has been appointed
to many different committees of the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops. These committees include such major concerns
as Priestly Life and Ministry, Pastoral Research, Doctrine
and Practice, Liturgy, Permanent Diaconate and Inclusive Language.
He was chosen to head the sub-committees on Teaching Ministry
of the Diocesan Bishop and Approval of Biblical Translations.
Bishop Sklba has been a member of the Catholic Biblical Association
of America since 1968 and served as president of the association
in 1982. He is a member of the Committee on Marriage and The
Family.
Active in the area of interfaith ministry,
the bishop is presently a consultant for the Committee for
Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs. He is also the co-chair
of the National Evangelical Lutheran/Catholic Dialogue. He was elected Chairman-elect of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs during the 2004 fall general assembly. He will begin his three-year term as committee chairman in November 2005.
Other professional memberships include the
Catholic Theological Society of America; Oriental Institute;
University of Chicago, Society for Biblical Literature; and
the Chicago Society for Biblical Research.
Bishop Sklba has written three books, various
articles and papers, and occasional book reviews. He was awarded
the Catholic Theological Society of America John Courtney
Murray Medal in 1988 for outstanding achievement in theology.
Bishop Sklba was elected diocesan administrator by the Archdiocesan College of Consultors on May 24, 2002.
Updated December 2004
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