GREEN BAY (WI)
Green Bay News-Chronicle
By Christopher Clough
News-Chronicle
Today is Catholic Diocese of Green Bay Bishop Robert Banks’ 75th birthday. By church law, that also means today is the day Banks submits a letter offering his resignation as bishop to Pope John Paul II, as all diocesan bishops are required to do when they reach age 75.
The question is how soon the letter will be accepted by the pope, or if it will be accepted at all. The resignation does not take effect until the pope accepts it, nor is he required to accept it at any time.
Banks has been diocesan bishop here since 1990, being appointed to Green Bay after serving as vicar for administration for the Boston Archdiocese. It was while in Boston that Banks became embroiled in a controversy regarding sexual abuse of children by priests in the archdiocese.
