Richard W. Gilsdorf

Fr. Richard Gilsdorf (24 January 1930 - 4 May 2005) was a Catholic priest who played a role in the doctrinal battles that followed the Second Vatican Council. A committed opponent of fellow Scripture scholar Raymond E. Brown, he wrote a number of influential articles for conservative Catholic publications on the issues of the day. Early on in his priesthood, many considered him a progressive, especially because of his excitement over the work of Vatican II and its efforts to further Christian unity.Fact|date=March 2008 As time progressed, however, his excitement grew more and more tempered by what he saw as misuse and distortions of conciliar teachings and a disenchantment with academics such as Brown, Culmann, Karl Rahner, and others.

Early life

Richard was born to Wilbert and Gladys Gilsdorf in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He attended that city’s Central Catholic High School and then the St. Lawrence Minor Seminary in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin.

He received his BA at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin, in 1952, and then studied Theology at St. Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, Indiana, after which he received Holy Orders to the priesthood at the hands of Bishop Stanislaus Vincent Bona at Cathedral of Saint Francis Xavier in Green Bay, Wisconsin on May 26, 1956.

Priestly life

He served his first appointment at St. John Church in Little Chute, Wisconsin, for two years, and then received assignment to the faculty of Sacred Heart Minor Seminary near Green Bay. From 1960-61 he took a leave of absence to pursue advanced studies in classical languages at Columbia University in New York, where he received his master’s in Greek in 1961. He then attended the Sorbonne in Paris where he earned his Certificat du Cours Supérieur in 1963.

In 1970 he received a second master’s degree in Scripture from St. Louis University, and he completed his doctoral studies in Scripture in 1973.

He served at a number of parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, was active in the diocese working with migrant workers, and taught summer courses in Scripture at the Pontifical Catechetical Institute in Beaverton, Oregon, for four straight years. During then-Bishop Adam Maida’s tenure as ordinary for the Green Bay diocese, Fr. Gilsdorf served as a member of the Presbyteral Council and the College of Consultors.

With Fr. Robert Levis of Erie, Pennsylvania, and Fr. Dudley Day, OSA, of Chicago, he founded and, from 1994-99, served as president of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, an organization of priests, deacons, and seminarians.

During his priestly career, he wrote prolifically, appearing many times in publications such as "Homiletic and Pastoral Review, The Wanderer, Lay Witness", and others.

According to "Homiletic & Pastoral Review" editor Fr. Kenneth Baker, the impact of one article he wrote, 'The Plight of the Papist Priest', “was so great that it was translated into five languages, and people requested it for over 20 years. In it, he pinpointed the problem of priests trying to be faithful to the Pope and the Magisterium who are ordered by their bishop to do something less. Proof that he was on target is this: Priests from three different parts of the country told me they were sure the anonymous author was in their diocese.” In his articles, he argued that the Catholic Church in America was losing its moorings and that many of the faithful had drifted into Modernist heresy.

For the final 23 years of his life he served as pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Casco, Wisconsin. “Fr. Gilsdorf gave all his time to his parish helping people spiritually. I needed his help many times, and he was always there. His example caused me to start thinking about the priesthood,” former parishioner Rory Cravillion once told the Green Bay diocese’s newspaper, The Compass. “He [led] a simple life and [was] close to God by the way he [lived] . That [inspired] me.”

After several years of serious illness, Father died on May 4, 2005, and was buried at St. John the Baptist Cemetery in Howard, Wisconsin, near his father’s and mother’s tombs.

He only published one book, "The Signs of the Times: Understanding the Church since Vatican II", which was released posthumously.

Adam Cardinal Maida, Cardinal Archbishop of Detroit, described Gilsdorf as "a holy priest, a Scripture scholar, teacher, and pastor". Fr. Kenneth Baker, editor of the "Homiletic and Pastoral Review" called him "a kind crusader for Catholic truth" and "a champion of orthodoxy".