Parish Staff

Most Reverend Gerard W. Battersby

The youngest of nine children, Gerard W. Battersby was born, along with his twin brother, on May 15, 1960, to the late Christopher and the late Helen (Buckley) Battersby. He grew up in northwest Detroit and attended St. Benedict Parish and School in Highland Park.

In 1993, he entered Sacred Heart Major Seminary as an adult vocation and received a Master of Divinity degree in 1998. Cardinal Adam J. Maida ordained him to the priesthood on May 30, 1998.

After ordination, he served in parish ministry for approximately 10 years. He served as an associate pastor at St. Thecla Parish in Clinton Township, Presentation/Our Lady of Victory Parish, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish and St. Gerard Parish, all in Detroit.

In 2002, he was named pastor of St. Christopher Parish in Detroit, and in 2007, was appointed to Sacred Heart Major Seminary, where he received a Licentiate in the New Evangelization in 2008. While serving as director of graduate seminarians and graduate pastoral formation at the seminary, Father Battersby also served concurrently as administrator of St. Leo Parish in Detroit. In 2009, Father Battersby was assigned to graduate studies at the Angelicum in Rome, Italy. In 2011, Father Battersby was appointed vice-rector and dean of seminarian formation at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. In 2015, Father Battersby was concurrently appointed pastor of St. Mary of Redford Parish, Detroit.

Father Battersby was appointed as Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit on Nov. 23, 2016 and his episcopal ordination occurred shortly thereafter on Jan. 25, 2017. Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron served as the principal consecrator and main celebrant.

On March 19, 2024, His Holiness Pope Francis named Bishop Battersby as the 11th Bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse.

Msgr. Richard Gilles, Rector

I was born to Richard and Diann, one of five children in 1966. My hometown is Boyd, Wisconsin, a village about 18 miles east of Chippewa Falls with a population of fewer than 500. I actually grew up in the country, just across the field from my grandpa and grandma’s dairy farm. They were still young and busy raising the last four (of eight) of their children. My mom was the oldest.  Many of my growing up years were spent on their dairy farm; and then on my Aunt and Uncle’s. It taught me a strong work ethic which has never left me.

I graduated from Stanley-Boyd High School in 1985.  After that, I attended the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire.  I was there for two years until the spring of 1987.  At the invitation (best ever!) of Father Robert Cook, I transferred to the college seminary, St. John Vianney, which is located on the campus of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.  I graduated from the then college of St. Thomas (now a university) in the spring of 1990. I began my studies in theology at St. Mary of the Lake University Seminary at Mundelein, Illinois. The Most Reverend John J. Paul ordained me to the priesthood in the spring of that year, May 28, 1994. I was the last priest he ordained.   

My first priestly assignment was Chaplain and Instructor of Religion at McDonell Central Catholic High School in Chippewa Falls.  I taught there for three years from the fall of 1994 to the spring of 1997.  During that time, I became parochial administrator of Sacred Heart Parish in Eau Claire for six months.  I think I learned more than the students did!

In the spring of my second year of teaching (April 29, 1996 to be exact—unforgettable moment that it was!) Bishop Burke asked me to go on for further studies in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Nervous about the whole thing, I agreed and left for Rome August 1, 1997 to begin my studies. In 1999 I received a licentiate in canon law. I returned home to begin my duties serving three bishops and twice as Diocesan Administrator over a period of over 11 years.

Bestowing a great gift upon me, Bishop William Callahan appointed me Pastor of St. Mary Immaculate Conception in Tomah and St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Warrens, merged now as Queen of the Apostles Parish July 1, 2015. After heavy administrative work, being a parish priest was a dream come true. I only waited 16 years.  After 10 years as pastor there, I was transferred to Cathedral Parish. I am super excited and proud to be rector of this magnificent community of faith. As I said in my first homily here, my “job” is to fall in love with you. This will be easy to do! Our common goal is serve our parish family, the whole Diocese as its Mother Church, and indeed the whole community of this great and beautiful city we call La Crosse. Let’s build a home for all; let’s build something wonderful to behold for God’s glory and honor and for our salvation! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!  St. Joseph the Workman, pray for us!

Deacon Joseph Richards

Deacon Joseph Richards hails from Cleveland, Ohio, although most of his life was spent in different parts of California before he and his wife Carol moved back to the Midwest.  In 2000 they came to La Crosse.  Eventually their three children went to Aquinas High School and have since graduated from different Midwest colleges, the youngest most recently from Chicago’s St. Mary of the Lake University and Mundelein Seminary, before becoming Ordained a priest for the Diocese of La Crosse..

Deacon did college and philosophy studies at St. Michael’s Norbertine Abbey in Orange, California.  He did theological studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, before graduating with the rest of his diaconal formation class, all of whom received Masters Degrees from Madonna University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology, as prescribed by the Diocese.

Deacon Richards and his family have been Cathedral parishioners since 2005.  He was ordained a permanent deacon at Cathedral by (then) Bishop Jerome Listecki on January 27, 2007.  A carpenter and building contractor by profession, he has served as Director of Buildings and Grounds for (then) Coulee Catholic Schools, and afterwards for the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  He recently retired after serving nine years as the Director of Holy Cross Diocesan Center.  Deacon Richards remains intent on bringing the benefits of service at the altar to the Church’s work of charity.

Deacon Tom Skemp

Deacon Tom Skemp last full-time job (besides the diaconate) was chaplain at the La Crosse County Jail, from which he retired after 16 years in 2018. He has a B.A. in Ministry from Viterbo University in La Crosse, is a board-certified correctional chaplain and a credentialed police chaplain. Since retiring from the U.S. Navy (Submarine Service) in 1994 he has worked in parish ministry, Citizen Advocacy, has been a core member at the La Crosse Catholic Worker house (A Place of Grace), has served on the Matthew 25 and Ruth House steering committees working to establish safe housing and reintegration for women ex-offenders leaving the correctional system using volunteer advocates and mentors, served as chair of the AMOS Restorative Justice Task Force where he was involved in establishing Circles of Support, a mentoring program for ex-offenders returning to the community, and has conducted victim-offender mediation through the YWCA’s Mediation and Restorative Services office. More recently he was on the Human Trafficking Task Force in La Crosse. He still connects regularly with former offenders that he came to know while working in the jail and coordinates the Front Door Ministry for the Cathedral.

Deacon Skemp is married to Janine, has two grown children and two grandsons. He was ordained by Bishop Callahan in October 2012.

Deacon Chris Kabat

I am a native of Green Bay WI, and the oldest of three siblings, I moved to Iowa in 1988 to attend the U of Iowa on a men’s gymnastics scholarship.  Two-time All-Big Ten and All Around recordholder I graduated in 1993 to pursue post-graduate studies at the U of Iowa College of Dentistry.  Discerning that dentistry was not the occupation I was being called to, I landed in the financial services industry in 1995 and completed my employment in September of 2023 with Raymond James to then relocate to La Crosse and begin my role as a Major Gifts Officer with the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I am happily married to Julie with whom I will celebrate 30 years together this coming summer.  We have been blessed with three children: Nathan, who is married to Bethany and their children Rosie, Jay, and Peregrine; Noah and his wife Mary, who are expecting their first child in October; and 13-year-old John, who is with us here in La Crosse.  I was ordained to the permanent diaconate on July 8, 2017, and my most recent parish to serve was St. Wenceslaus in Iowa City.  I served there as the parish bookkeeper and led the high school youth group, including pilgrimages to NCYC and the March for Life in Wash DC, along with preparing couples for the Sacrament of Matrimony and assisting in the education and healing from addictions to pornography. I am very excited to have been assigned to the Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman parish by Bishop Callahan to continue in the mission God has put before me in serving His Holy Church.  I look forward to meeting you and walking this journey of faith towards our eternal reward, that I pray is in heaven with all the angels and saints!

Dr. Brian Luckner