HOMETOWN

ALMA MATER

Fr. James Ritch, the younger of two children, was raised in Mahopac, NY and was a parishioner at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church. After attending a Catholic high school, he received a bachelor of science in biology at Providence College, Rhode Island, where he first met the Dominicans, and subsequently researched Huntington disease for two years at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. After graduating, he matriculated to the University of Massachusetts in Worcester, earning a Masters in neuroscience. Prior to entering the Order of Preachers, he performed cancer research as a staff member of the Biology Department at Providence College and was a parishioner of St. Pius V parish. “My vocational discernment began at Providence College, where I met joyful Dominican priests who encouraged me to befriend Jesus Christ by making regular visits to the St. Dominic Chapel. From experiencing God’s grace and mercy firsthand, I have decided to join the mission to preach the Gospel for the salvation of souls.”

More from Fr. James Mary Ritch, O.P. 

• Stewards, Not “Absolute Arbiters”
• Human Gene Editing: A Century of Tears to a Century of Fears?