Former Milwaukee Bishop Sklba funeral, protesters gather outside
MILWAUKEE - Funeral services for former Milwaukee Catholic Bishop Richard Sklba on Wednesday were met with protests.
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee said Sklba died "peacefully in his sleep" on Nov. 21. He was 89 years old.
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Services were held at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. Survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their supporters held a protest outside the cathedral during Sklba's funeral.
Protesters claimed that when an archbishop issued orders to cover up thousands of sex crimes and quietly shuffle abusing priests to new assignments, it was Bishop Sklba who ensured those orders were executed.
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"You can not put the devastation, the horror and the misery that, unfortunately, this man is responsible for and bury it into a hole of forgetfulness," said Peter Isely, director of Nate's Mission. "That is not the way to move forward."
"During a Catholic funeral we give thanks to God for the gift of human life and community as we move forward toward eternal peace in Heaven and eternal life of forgiveness, hope, and love," the archdiocese said in a statement.
Sklba was ordained in 1979, a position he held until his retirement in 2010.
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More about Bishop Sklba
Bishop Sklba's biography on the archdiocese website says, in part, "Bishop Richard J. Sklba was born in Racine, Wisconsin, on September 11, 1935, and was baptized at Holy Trinity Parish on September 30, 1935.
"When ordained as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Archbishop Weakland on December 19, 1979, Bishop Sklba became one of America’s youngest bishops.
"On September 11, 2010, the occasion of his 75th birthday, Bishop Sklba, as required by canon law, submitted his resignation. On October 18, 2010, the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, Pope Benedict XVI accepted Bishop Sklba's resignation."