Survivors of clergy sexual abuse to speak out before the funeral of Bishop Richard Sklba
Sklba once characterized secretly returning abusers to ministry as an “experiment”
Group wants incoming archbishop to remove Sklba’s name from yearly church award given to middle school children
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12-3-2024
Survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their advocates will gather for a press conference at 11:30am before the funeral of Bishop Richard Sklba, a figure deeply implicated in decades of child sexual abuse and cover-up within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Over 10,000 court-ordered released internal church documents, dozens of depositions, and scores of victim testimonies revealed Sklba’s central role in managing and concealing well over 50 cases of abusive priests in Southeastern Wisconsin spanning over three decades.
WHEN: Wednesday, December 4th, 11:30am
WHERE: Outside the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 812 N Jackson St, Milwaukee, WI
WHO: Survivors of clergy abuse and advocates
WHAT: Survivors and advocates will hold an 11:30am press conference outside the Downtown Milwaukee Cathedral (prior to the 1:30pm funeral of Bishop Sklba) holding signs and photos, speaking about the prolific role of Bishop Sklba in the cover-up of clergy abuse crimes in Southeastern Wisconsin. Nate’s Mission will stay for the 1:30pm service to pass out flyers informing attendees about Bishop Sklba’s involvement in clergy abuse cases.
WHY: There may be no Catholic official in the history of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee as intimately involved in the concealment of clergy sexual abuse than Bishop Sklba.
“While Archbishop Weakland may have issued the orders to cover-up thousands of sex crimes and quietly shuffle known child abusers to new assignments, it was Bishop Sklba who ensured those orders were executed,” said Sarah Pearson, Deputy Director of Nate’s Mission. “This extensive operation relied on Bishop Sklba to craft and sustain a bureaucratic machine capable of keeping known sex offenders in ministry for decades by obstructing justice and silencing victims. Richard Sklba will be buried with full honors, adorned in ancient symbols of church authority, because he excelled in that role.”
Nate’s Mission will share a list and corresponding documentation detailing Sklba’s worst offenses. These include
Weakland’s claim that Sklba was his “main go-to guy” for “all” of the sex abuse cases he handled
Sklba’s authorization of a secret hush money payment of $450,000 for Archbishop Weakland, using church funds that were specifically prohibited from being spent on sexual abuse settlements
Sklba’s refusal to meet with victims for over a decade at the height of the Milwaukee archdiocese’s abuse and cover-up crisis
Sklba’s management of transfers of known abusers to Milwaukee area Catholic hospitals, where they ministered to patients and families, including visits with children in pediatric wards
A secret arrangement brokered between Sklba and now-disgraced defense attorney Gerald Boyle, violating church rules by assisting in legal costs of defending alleged sex offender priests
Sklba’s direct role in covering up the abuse of the Milwaukee archdiocese’s most notorious sex offenders including Fathers George Nuedling, Peter Burns, William Effinger, Dennis Pecore, Edmund Haen, Simon Palathingal, Eldred Lesniewski, Frederick Bistricky, Franklyn Becker, David Hanser, Lawrence Murphy, and Sister Norma Giannini
Sklba’s creation of a program he called an “experiment,” in which known clergy sex offenders were intentionally returned to ministry and “monitored” by church staff, resulting in continued abuse of minors by several of the “experiment” participants
Survivors have also sent a letter to the recently announced Archbishop-Designate Grob, demanding the renaming of a yearly “Peacemaker” award given to grade school students in Racine, currently named in honor of Sklba. Grob is set to be installed as the new Archbishop on January 14, 2025.
“It is utterly disgraceful that the Archdiocese bestows a yearly award to middle school students who embody the values of peacemaking and the Catholic faith, named after Sklba,” said clergy abuse survivor and Nate’s Mission Program Director Peter Isely. “The average age of a victim of clergy offenders is a middle school child. Why should an award that celebrates peace bear the name of a man responsible for inflicting such widespread sexual violence against children—children the very same age as those receiving the award?”
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