Bishop Robert Banks (Photo courtesy Catholic Diocese of Green Bay)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Former Green Bay Catholic Bishop Robert Banks has died at 97.
Bishop Banks was a priest for 73 years and a bishop for 40 years. Banks served as the bishop of Green Bay from 1990-2003. The diocese’s website says Banks “led significant administrative restructuring and school policy reform.”
Before becoming the Bishop of Green Bay, Bishop Banks served the Archdiocese of Boston. He was ordained to the priesthood at Rome’s Lateran Basilica on December 20, 1952, and ordained a bishop on September 19, 1985, at Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston.
Banks served St. John Seminary in Brighton, MA as a professor of canon law from 1959-1971, as the academic dean from 1967-1971, and as rector from 1971-1981.
Banks was 75 when he retired, which is the age at which church law requires bishops to step down. Banks served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston before becoming bishop for Green Bay. He was named in lawsuits and complaints against the Boston Archdiocese and its handling of priests accused of child sexual abuse.
Bishop Banks served on a number of national committees, including the U.C. Catholic Conference Committee, Board of Trustees, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, NCCB Administrative Board, and the National Catholic Educational Association.
Reception of the Body and Solemn Vespers will be celebrated on Thursday, February 5, 2026, at 6:00 PM, at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, 139 S. Madison St, Green Bay, WI. Visitation for all the faithful will be held at the same location on Friday, February 6, 2026, beginning at 8:00 AM.
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