Fr. Richard grew up as an Episcopalian in Chicago. In college he felt the call to ministry, attended seminary and was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1970. His brand of Anglicanism was a small segment that saw itself as “pro-papalist”. In the 1970’s and ’80’s they thought they would soon reunite as a denomination with Rome. By the early 1990’s, Fr. Richard realized, with the doctrinal disintegration of his communion, that the Anglican Communion was no longer his home. He, along with his family and 40 members of his former congregation, were received into the Catholic Church in 1997. Fr. Richard was ordained a Catholic priest in May 1998.