David L. Ricken


David Laurin Ricken is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who serves as the twelfth bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Bishop Ricken previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Biography

Early life and education

David Ricken was born to George William "Bill" Ricken and Bertha Ricken in Dodge City, Kansas. He has two siblings: a brother, Mark, and a sister, Carol, who is principal of St. Mary’s School in Cheyenne, Wyoming. For his primary education, Ricken attended Sacred Heart Cathedral Grade School in Dodge City. He later attended St. Francis High School Seminary in Victoria, graduating in 1970.
Ricken did undergraduate studies in philosophy at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio, and Conception Seminary College in Conception, Missouri, graduating from the latter institution in 1974. As a seminarian for the Diocese of Pueblo, he attended St. Meinrad School of Theology in St. Meinrad, Indiana, and the American College of the Immaculate Conception in Leuven, Belgium, obtaining a master's degree in theology in 1980 from the Catholic University of Leuven.

Ordination and ministry

Ricken was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Arthur Tafoya on September 12, 1980, and then served as associate pastor of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pueblo until 1985. From 1985 to 1987, he was both parish administrator of Holy Rosary Church and Vice-Chancellor of the diocese. In 1987 he was sent to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, from where he earned a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1989.
Ricken, upon his return to the United States, was made diocesan Vocation Director and Vicar for Ministry Formation, and became diocesan Chancellor in 1992. In 1996 he began work as an official of the Congregation for the Clergy in the Roman Curia, a position that he served until 1999.

Bishop of Cheyenne, Wyoming

On December 14, 1999, Ricken was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Cheyenne by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on January 6, 2000, from John Paul II, with Archbishops Giovanni Re and Marcello Zago, OMI, serving as co-consecrators, in St. Peter's Basilica. Ricken later succeeded Joseph Hubert Hart as Bishop of Cheyenne on September 26, 2001, upon the latter's retirement.

Bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin

named Ricken the twelfth Bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin, on July 9, 2008. Bishop Ricken was installed on August 28, 2008.
On December 8, 2010, Bishop Ricken by official decree and proclamation made Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, Wisconsin, the very first and the only site in the United States of an approved apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The ruling
concluded two years of investigation officially approving the authenticity of the Marian apparitions that took place in 1859.

Joseph Hart controversy

In August 2019, Ricken came under scrutiny for a 2002 letter defending former Cheyenne Bishop Joseph Hart, who is accused of sexually abusing children and has been recommended to face criminal charges by the Cheyenne police. While Ricken was Bishop of Cheyenne, a different criminal investigation against Hart which started in 2002 was closed due, in part, to lack of cooperation from the Diocese of Cheyenne. Ricken afterwards declined to speak to the press about the new investigation against Hart.

Hall of fame

Ricken is a 2009 inductee in the Catholic Education Foundation's Hall of Fame. While the Cheyenne bishop, he had co-founded the Wyoming Catholic College, found the Wyoming School of Catholic Thought, and founded the John Paul II Catholic School in Gillette, Wyoming. He oversaw the building of a new school for St. Mary's Catholic School in Cheyenne.