A funeral Mass for Father Richard (Dick) Schiblin, CSSR, was to be celebrated Jan. 11 at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Portland, Oregon. Father Schiblin died Dec. 21 St. Clement Redemptorist Mission Community in Barnhart at the age of 89. A strong proponent of spiritual renewal and a true champion of social justice, he served as the first secretary of the General Secretariat of Justice & Peace in Rome. A beloved mentor and friend, he influenced generations of Redemptorist missionaries throughout the world.
Richard Louis Schiblin was born to Louis and Marvel (Hogan) Schiblin on July 6, 1935, in Portland. He grew up in Holy Redeemer Parish and attended Holy Redeemer Grade School, where his vocation was nurtured by the local Redemptorist community and the Holy Name Sisters.
An intelligent and musically talented student, he entered Redemptorist formation at Holy Redeemer College in Oakland, California. After completing novitiate at Mount St. Clement’s in De Soto, he professed temporary vows on Aug. 2, 1956. He proceeded to Immaculate Conception Seminary in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, where he founded and edited a thought-provoking magazine featuring student opinions and participated in the “Octet” to promote student singing and entertainment. He professed perpetual vows on Sept. 2, 1959 and was ordained to the priesthood on June 29, 1961.
Newly ordained Father Schiblin completed Tirocinium at Holy Redeemer College in Oakland and was immediately appointed to the faculty. Within two years, he was named dean of students and director, but he was eager to continue his education abroad at Institute Catholique in Paris, where the important theological leaders of that time taught. He was enrolled from 1967-71, and spent considerable time at Harvard University, where he earned a licentiate in theology from the esteemed institute in 1971.
Father Schiblin returned to Holy Redeemer Center in Oakland and dedicated the next two years to developing an adult education program. He served briefly as team ministry assistant at St. Alphonsus Parish in San Leandro, California, before he was appointed director of Holy Redeemer Center in 1974. Intent on fostering spiritual renewal, he dedicated the next 12 years to developing Holy Redeemer Center for retreats and conferences as well as forming and nurturing Christian Life Communities.
He was instrumental in establishing “The House on the Way,” a center of social analysis and theological reflection of justice and peace issues. His social justice ministry also brought him to Latin America, notably Nicaragua, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. His book, “The Bible, the Church, and Social Justice,” was published in 1983. Father Schiblin was appointed to serve as executive secretary of the the worldwide general secretariat’s Justice & Peace Commission and served two terms from 1986-92. He earned a doctorate in moral theology from the Alphonsian Academy during this time.
Father Schiblin returned to the United States and spent a brief time at St. Thomas Parish in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, before he was elected second consultor of the Ordinary Provincial Council in 1993. Superior General Lasso asked him to teach moral theology at the regional seminary in South Africa, so he soon found himself in the “kwzulu,” the heart of Zululand. He thoroughly enjoyed the semester he spent with 150 students in a society still struggling to rid itself of apartheid.
When he returned to the United States in 1994, Father Schiblin was appointed superior of the local community and pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish in Portland. He served the parish until 2000, when he took a six-month sabbatical.
Father Schiblin served as a bilingual itinerant preacher based in Oakland from 2001-05, when he was invited to join the theology student community at St. John Neumann House in St. Louis. After two years, he joined the pre-novitiate student community at St. Alphonsus Residence in Whitestone, New York. In 2009, he moved to the St. Clement Maria Residence in Berkeley. He served on the West Coast Mission Team from 2011-16.
Shortly before his 81st birthday, he moved to the Pagani House community at the Redemptorist Retreat Center in Oconomowoc as a senior member in residence. Health issues necessitated his move to the St. Clement Redemptorist Mission Community in 2019. A beloved confrere, he was appreciated for his wit, his sense of humor, and his invaluable contributions to the worldwide Congregation.
