William S. Skylstad

During the years when the USCCB had Bishop Skylstad at the helm, the conference was confronted by the prospect of Amnesty International abandoning its neutral stance on the matter of abortion, and adoption of a policy of furthering abortion as an international human right in certain circumstances. The USCCB made several appeals that such a policy not be applied. In April 2007 the international leadership of AI did so nevertheless. On July 2, 2007, the U.S. Catholic Bishops renewed their earlier appeals to AI. In a statement signed by Bishop Skylstad, the bishops said that AI "trivializes the harm done by abortion. AI's new policy appears to apply to every stage of pregnancy and has already led AI-USA to oppose laws against the killing of partially delivered children. Similarly, the policy of advancing access to abortion to preserve women's 'health,' a word left undefined by AI, has not confined the practice to narrow circumstances, but in American law has led to abortion on demand."[5]

At a meeting in Mexico August 11–17, 2007, the International Council of Amnesty International decided to retain the stance laid down in April. Within days, this was decried by bishop Skylstad on behalf of the USCCB. The statement of August 23, 2007 called the change in the organization's longstanding position divisive and an affront to "people in many nations, cultures and religions who share a consistent commitment to all human rights".[6]

In 2006, Bishop William S. Skylstad weighed in on the "Bloody Mary" controversy, relating to an episode of the Comedy Central TV series South Park. In a letter to Viacom's president and CEO, Tom Freston he said that the Viacom-controlled network showed "extreme insensitivity" when it aired the episode.[7] When the series was rerun later in the US, the episode involving the Virgin Mary was omitted.

The Diocese of Spokane is a diocese of approximately 90,000 Catholics. Under Bishop Skylstad the Diocese of Spokane, in December 2004, declared bankruptcy to protect it from claims of people allegedly abused by clergy. The Diocese of Spokane as part of its bankruptcy agreed to pay at least $48 million as compensation. The money for the settlement would come from insurance companies, the sale of church property, contributions from Catholic groups and from the diocese's parishes.[8]