David Laurin Ricken (born November 9, 1952) is an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, serving as the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

of the Diocese of Green Bay in Wisconsin since 2008. Ricken previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Cheyenne in Wyoming from 1999 to 2008.

Biography

Early life and education

Bishop David Ricken Greeting People Lifest 2012

David Ricken was born to George William "Bill" Ricken and Bertha (Davis) Ricken in

Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town ...

. He has two siblings: a brother Mark and a sister Carol, who became principal of St. Mary’s School in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistic ...

. For his primary education, David Ricken attended Sacred Heart Cathedral Grade School in Dodge City. He later attended St. Francis High School Seminary in

Victoria, Kansas Victoria is a city in Ellis County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,129. History A group of British colonists led by a Scotsman named George Grant founded Victoria in 1873 on land he had purchas ...

, graduating in 1970. Ricken did undergraduate studies in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

at the

Pontifical College Josephinum The Pontifical College Josephinum is a private Roman Catholic seminary and university in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded by Joseph Jessing in 1888 and was granted the status of a Pontifical College in 1892 by Pope Leo XIII, making it the only pon ...

in Worthington, Ohio, and

Conception Seminary College Conception Abbey, site of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, is a monastery of the Swiss-American Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The monastery, founded by the Swiss Engelberg Abbey in 1873 in northwest Missouri's Nodaway ...

in Conception, Missouri, graduating there in 1974. As a seminarian for the

Diocese of Pueblo The Diocese of Pueblo ( la, Dioecesis Pueblensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southern Colorado. The diocese was created on November 15, 1941. It encompasses the southern half of Colorado, fro ...

, he attended St. Meinrad School of Theology in St. Meinrad, Indiana, and the American College of the Immaculate Conception in Leuven, Belgium. Ricken obtained a

Master of Theology Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a sta ...

degree in 1980 from the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of L ...

Ordination and ministry

Ricken was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood by Bishop Arthur Tafoya on September 12, 1980 for the Diocese of Pueblo. After his ordination, Ricken served as associate

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart Parish in

Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

until 1985. From 1985 to 1987, he was both

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

administrator of Holy Rosary Parish and

vice-chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

of the diocese. In 1987, Ricken went to the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he earned a

Licentiate of Canon Law Licentiate of Canon Law ( la, Juris Canonici Licentiatus; JCL) is the title of an advanced graduate degree with canonical effects in the Roman Catholic Church offered by pontifical universities and ecclesiastical faculties of canon law. Licentiat ...

in 1989. After returning to Colorado, Ricken was named diocesan

vocation A vocation () is an occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. People can be given information about a new occupation through student orientation. Though now often used in non-religious ...

director and

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

for ministry formation, and became diocesan chancellor in 1992. In 1996. Ricken returned to Rome to work as an official of the

Congregation for the Clergy The Dicastery for the Clergy, formerly named Congregation for the Clergy (; formerly the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy and Sacred Congregation of the Council), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regardi ...

in the Roman Curia, serving in that position until 1999.

Bishop of Cheyenne

On December 14, 1999, Ricken was appointed as

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co- ...

of the Diocese of Cheyenne by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

on January 6, 2000, in Rome from John Paul II, with Archbishop Giovanni Re and Marcello Zago, serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches ...

, in

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

. Ricken succeeded Bishop

Joseph Hart Joseph Hart (1711/12 – 24 May 1768) was a Calvinism, Calvinist minister in London. His works include ''Hart's Hymns'', a much-loved hymn book amongst evangelical Christians throughout its lifetime of over 200 years, which includes the we ...

as bishop of Cheyenne on September 26, 2001, upon the latter's retirement. Ricken is a 2009 inductee in the Catholic Education Foundation's Hall of Fame. While the bishop of Cheyenne, he co-founded

Wyoming Catholic College Wyoming Catholic College (WCC) is a private, Catholic liberal arts college in Lander, Wyoming. WCC is the only private four-year institution of higher education in the state. History WCC admitted its first class in 2007. Administration ...

in Lander, Wyoming, established the Wyoming School of Catholic Thought at Wyoming Catholic College, and founded the John Paul II Catholic School in

Gillette, Wyoming Gillette (, '' jih-LET'') is a city in and the county seat of Campbell County, Wyoming, United States. The town was founded in 1891 as a major railway town on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The population was estimated at 32,030 ...

. Ricken oversaw the building of a new building for St. Mary's Catholic School in Cheyenne.

Bishop of Green Bay

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

named Ricken as the twelfth bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay on July 9, 2008. Ricken was installed on August 28, 2008.National Catholic Register: "Bishop Ricken: Why I Approved the Apparition"
December 8, 2010 In August 2019, Ricken came under scrutiny for a letter he wrote in 2002 about Bishop Hart. In 2002, a Wyoming man filed a complaint with the Cheyenne Police Department that Hart had molested him when he was age 14 in the 1970's. Ricken, then bishop of Cheyenne, wrote a letter to the police that vouched for Hart's innocence. After a police investigation over several months, the

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a ...

declined to prosecute Hart. In 2017, Cheyenne Bishop Steven Biegler initiated a diocesan investigation of this case, which ultimately found the allegations against Hart to be credible. This investigation also revealed more possible victims of Hart. When asked in 2019 for his thoughts about the case, Ricken replied: "Well I suppose reading back you could say that, but I did what I knew to do at the time with what I knew, and that’s what I did."

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Green BayRoman Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricken, David Laurin 1952 births Living people 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States American College of the Immaculate Conception alumni KU Leuven alumni People from Dodge City, Kansas Pontifical College Josephinum alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Cheyenne Roman Catholic bishops of Green Bay Catholics from Kansas