David Laurin Ricken was born Nov. 9, 1952, to George William “Bill” and Bertha (Davis) Ricken in Dodge City, Kansas. He has an older brother, Mark, and a younger sister, Carol.
He attended Sacred Heart Cathedral Grade School in Dodge City, and St. Francis Seminary High School in Victoria, Kansas. He entered college at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio, and graduated from Conception Seminary College in Conception, Missouri, in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. He conducted his theological studies for the Diocese of Pueblo at St. Meinrad School of Theology in Indiana and the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium where he earned his graduate degree in sacred theology and completed his seminary formation.
He was ordained a priest on Sept. 12, 1980, by the Bishop of Pueblo, Arthur Tafoya, at La Junta Catholic Parish in southeast Colorado. His first appointment was as associate pastor to the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pueblo. Five years later, he was named the administrator of Holy Rosary Parish in Pueblo and vice chancellor of the Diocese.
In 1987, then-Father Ricken attended the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where he received his Licentiate degree (J.C.L.) in Canon Law (church law) in 1989. Upon returning to the diocese, he was appointed the vocation director and vicar for ministry formation. Three years later, he added diocesan chancellor to his responsibilities as well as assisting in the Diocesan Tribunal. He served in these positions until Oct. 1, 1996, when he was nominated to be an official of the Congregation for the Clergy at the Vatican where he served through December 1999.
On Jan. 6, 2000, he was ordained to the episcopacy for the Diocese of Cheyenne at the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome by His Holiness, Pope John Paul II. The Mass of Welcome to the Diocese of Cheyenne took place on Feb. 11, 2000, in Cheyenne. On Sept. 26, 2001, Bishop Ricken succeeded Bishop Joseph Hart as the seventh leader of the Diocese of Cheyenne.
Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Ricken the twelfth bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay on July 9, 2008. He was installed as bishop on Aug. 28, 2008, at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay.
During his tenure as bishop in Green Bay, he has issued the following:
- A 3,500 word pastoral letter, “A New Moment for Catechesis in the Diocese of Green Bay” in November 2009 that focused on the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults and its role in faith formation and religion instruction in the diocese.
- The “Decree on the Authenticity of the Apparitions of 1859 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help” in Champion, Wisconsin to Adele Brise. Issued on December 8, 2010, this established the Shrine as the location of the first and only Marian apparitions approved by a diocesan bishop in the United States.
- A 2,100-word “Pastoral Statement on Living Justice in the Diocese of Green Bay” in 2011 that calls for establishment of a new diocesan Commission on Living Justice to take the leading role in the catechesis, planning and implementation of Catholic social teaching in the Diocese of Green Bay.
- Bishop Ricken is a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is presently a member of the Bishops' Committee on Catechesis, the Committee for Canonical Affairs and the Bishops' Advisory Council for the Institute for Priestly Formation. He is the Chairman of the Committee on the American College of Louvain in Belgium and is Chairman-elect of the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis. He is on the board of trustees for the Our Lady of the New Advent Theological Institute in Denver and for the Catholic Mutual Relief Society.
Formally he served on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ editorial oversight board for the National Directory of Catechesis and was a member the Committee for Domestic Justice and Human Development and the Committee on Home Missions. He represented his region as a member of the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People. He is past-President of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference.