William S. Skylstad

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His Excellency, The Most Reverend

William Stephen Skylstad
Bishop Emeritus of Spokane
ArchdioceseSeattle
DioceseSpokane
AppointedApril 17, 1990
InstalledApril 27, 1990
Term endedJune 30, 2010
PredecessorLawrence Welsh
SuccessorBlase J. Cupich
Orders
OrdinationMay 21, 1960
ConsecrationMay 12, 1977
by Raymond Hunthausen, Bernard Joseph Topel, and Bernard Francis Law
Personal details
Born (1934-03-02) March 2, 1934 (age 87)
Methow, Washington
Previous post(s)Bishop of Yakima
Styles of
William Stephen Skylstad
Mitre (plain).svg
Reference style
Spoken styleYour Excellency
Religious styleBishop

William Stephen Skylstad (born March 2, 1934, in Omak, Washington) is the Bishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane in Washington State, serving there as bishop from 1990 to 2010.[1] He previously served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Yakima in Washington State from 1977 to 1990.

Skylstad is a former president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). He was appointed as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Baker in Oregon in 2011, serving there until 2012.

Biography[]

Early life[]

The oldest of six children, William Skylstad was born in Omak, Washington on March 2, 1934, delivered on a table in the garage. A Norwegian immigrant, his father Stephen Skylstad was an apple farmer. Stephen Skystad was a Lutheran, but the mother (Reneldes Elizabeth Danzl-Skylstad) was a Catholic from Minnesota.

At age 14, having decided to enter the Catholic priesthood, William Skylstad left home to attend the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio.

Priesthood[]

On May 21, 1960, Skystad was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Spokane. [2]That same year, Skylstad attended Washington State University and served as an assistant pastor at a parish in Pullman, Washington.[3]

In 1960, Skylstad began teaching at Mater Cleri, a minor seminary in Colbert, Washington, evaluating student fitness for the priesthood. He entered Gonzaga University in 1961, graduating in 1964.[4] In 1968, Skylstad was appointed rector at the Mater Cleri. That same year, he became the pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Colbert. He also sat on a personnel board that counseled the bishop on problem priests. Skylstad continued serving at Mater Cleri and St. Joseph until 1974.[3]

In 1974 Skylstad became pastor at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Spokane, Washington. In 1976, he left the parish to become chancellor of the diocese.[3]

Bishop of Yakima[]

On February 22, 1977, Pope Paul VI appointed Skylstad as bishop of the Diocese of Yakima; he was consecrated on May 12, 1977, by Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen at Holy Family Cathedral in Yakima, Washington.

Bishop of Spokane[]

On April 17, 1990, Pope John Paul II appointed Skystad as the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Spokane; his installation was on April 27, 1990.[1]

After having served as the Vice President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) since 2001, Skylstad was elected to a three-year term as USCCB president on November 15, 2004.

In December 2004, the Diocese of Spokane declared Chapter II Bankruptcy to protect it from claims of people credibly abused by its priests. As part of its bankruptcy agreement, the diocese agreed to pay at least $48 million to the victims as compensation. The money for the settlement was to come from insurance companies, the sale of church property, contributions from Catholic groups and from the diocese's parishes.[5]On April 12, 2007, four prominent donors to the Diocese of Spokane wrote private letters to Skylstad asking him to resign, terming the sexual abuse settlement he approved as a "complete disaster". Skylstad expressed disappointment that the Spokesman-Review had revealed the contents of private letters.[6]

Retirement[]

On June 30, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI accepted Skylstad's letter of resignation as Bishop of the Diocese of Spokane.[7]

In 2016, Catholic Charities USA name Skylstad as one of its two volunteers of the year. They cited his counseling and spiritual guidance to clients at the House of Charity in Spokane. Skylstad also worked to connect Catholic Charities of Spokane clients needing assistance.[8]

Controversies[]

O'Donnell case[]

Court records in 2005 showed that Skylstad consistently delayed taking action in response to sexual abuse accusations against another priest during the 1970s. Patrick O'Donnell was a diocese priest with a history of inappropriate behavior with teenage boys. When Skystad, then a priest, was serving on the diocese personal board, the board was forced to remove O'Donnell from his existing parish due to complaints from the pastor. The personnel board decided to reassign O'Donnell to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Spokane, where Skystad was the pastor, presumably for Skystad to watch him.

After O'Donnell started working at Assumption, Rita Flynn, a parishioner, started hearing stories from her son about O'Donnell behaving inappropriately with boys. She complained twice to Skystad, who did nothing. Finally, Flynn's husband told Skystad he would expose O'Donnell's behavior to the entire parish if he wasn't removed. At that point, the diocese sent O'Donnell to Seattle for treatment. He later admitted to abusing 11 boys at the parish. When asked about O'Donnell in 2005 in a legal deposition, Skystad said he could not remember meeting with the Flynns or their accusations against O'Donnell.[9]

Abuse accusation[]

On March 8, 2006, a woman accused Skylstad of having sexually abused her as a minor from December 1961 to December 1963 at both St. Joseph and Gonzaga University. The accusation was made as part of the diocese of Spokane bankruptcy agreement. He completely denied the accusations.[10][4]On June 12, Skylstad's lawyer said that an investigation he conducted had found no evidence to back the accuser's claim.[11]

Amnesty International Abortion Policy change[]

While USCCB was being led by Skylstad, it faced the prospect of Amnesty International (AI) abandoning its neutral stance on abortion, and adoption of a policy of furthering abortion as an international human right in certain circumstances. The USCCB made several appeals to AI not to change the policy. In April 2007 the international leadership of AI did so nevertheless. On July 2, 2007, the U.S. Catholic Bishops renewed their earlier appeals to AI. In a statement signed by Skylstad, the bishops said that AI:

'"trivializes the harm done by abortion. AI's new policy appears to apply to every stage of pregnancy and has already led AI-USA to oppose laws against the killing of partially delivered children. Similarly, the policy of advancing access to abortion to preserve women's 'health,' a word left undefined by AI, has not confined the practice to narrow circumstances, but in American law has led to abortion on demand."[12]

In August 2007, the International Council of AI affirmed the stance taken in April. In an August 23 statement, Skylstad called the new AI position divisive and an affront to "people in many nations, cultures and religions who share a consistent commitment to all human rights".[13]

"Bloody Mary" controversy[]

In 2006, Skylstad condemned the "Bloody Mary" episode of the TV series South Park. In a letter to Viacom's president and CEO, Tom Freston Skylstad said that Comedy Central, owned by Viacom, had shown "extreme insensitivity" in airing the episode.[14] When the series was rerun later in the United States, the "Bloody Mary" episode was not aired.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Carla K. Johnson; Kevin Taylor (October 25, 2002). "Late bishop had secret". The Spokesman-Review. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013.
  2. ^ "Bishop William Stephen Skylstad [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  3. ^ a b c "Most Reverend William Skylstad | University of Portland". www.up.edu. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  4. ^ a b "Abuse alleged against Spokane bishop". HeraldNet.com. 2006-03-08. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  5. ^ "US Church offers abuse settlement". BBC News. 2007-01-05.
  6. ^ "Four asked Skylstad to resign | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  7. ^ http://www.kxly.com/news/24095917/detail.html
  8. ^ "CCUSA RECOGNIZES BISHOP EMERITUS WILLIAM S. SKYLSTAD AND COLIN ARNOLD AS 2016 VOLUNTEERS OF THE YEAR". Catholic Charities USA. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  9. ^ Jonathan Martin; Ken Armstrong (October 27, 2004). "The past shadows a bishop's future". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 9, 2005.
  10. ^ "Bishop Is Accused of Sexual Abuse". The New York Times. Associated Press. 2006-03-09. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  11. ^ "Investigation Found No Evidence Wash. Sex Abuse Claim is True". Insurance Journal. 2006-06-11. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  12. ^ A Plea to Amnesty International Members (July 2, 2007) Website last accessed 9 July 2007
  13. ^ USCCB.com website (24 August 2007) - Website last accessed 26 August 2007
  14. ^ "Bishops' president blasts South Park episode". Church Resources. 2005-12-21. Archived from the original on June 26, 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-06.

External links[]

Episcopal succession[]

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Wilton D. Gregory
 President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
2004–2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Spokane
1990–2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Yakima
1977–1990 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from ""