GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Former Green Bay Catholic Bishop Robert J. Banks has died at the age of 97. The Diocese of Green Bay confirmed to Local 5 on Sunday morning.
“With unwavering faith in the Resurrection, Bishop David L Ricken shares that the Most Reverend Bishop Robert J. Banks, Bishop Emeritus of Green Bay, died peacefully this morning, January 25, 2026, at 7:51 a.m. He was residing at St. Paul Elder in Kaukauna at the time of his death,” the Diocese said in a statement.
Bishop Banks was 97 years old and was a priest for 73 years and a Bishop for 40. Banks was among the country’s oldest Bishops at the time of his death.
Before becoming the Bishop of Green Bay from 1990 through 2003, 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, MA.
He was the vicar general in the Archdiocese of Boston when called to serve the Diocese of Green Bay on Oct. 16, 1990. Bishop Banks was installed as the 10th Bishop of the diocese on Dec. 5, 1990, and he served until Oct.10, 2003 when Bishop David Zubik was named his successor.
Reception of the Body and Solemn Vespers will be celebrated for family, priests, deacons, and consecrated religious of the diocese on Thursday, February 5, at 6 p.m., at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay.
Visitation for all the faithful will be held at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral on Friday, February 6, at 8 a.m.
The Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 11 a.m., following visitation, with the Most Reverend David L. Ricken, Bishop of Green Bay, as celebrant and the Most Reverend Robert F. Morneau as homilist. Burial will follow in the Allouez Catholic Cemetery.
“We ask for prayers for the repose of the soul of Bishop Robert J. Banks who was an outstanding shepherd of the flock entrusted to his care in northeast Wisconsin,” the Diocese release concluded.
