Bruce Ritter
Fr. Bruce Ritter was ordained in 1956 and worked at the following locations:
- 1956-1959: Conventual Franciscan Seminary, Rome, Italy (doctoral student)
- 1959-1961: St. Anthony on Hudson, Rensselaer, NY
- 1961-1962: St. Hyacinth Seminary, Granby, MA
- 1962-1963: St. Francis of Assisi Friary, Pittsburgh, PA
- 1963-1968: Manhattan College, New York, NY (theology teacher)
- 1968-1982: Covenant House, New York, NY
- 1982-1983: Mission of the Immaculate Virgin, New York, NY
- 1983-1990: Covenant House, New York, NY
- 1990-1992: Covenant House, Anchorage, AK
- 1992-1999: Fr. Ritter moved to a rural farmhouse in Otsego County, New York
- 1999: Died
Fr. Ritter was ordained a Roman Catholic priest for the Order of Friars of Minor Conventual (“Conventual Franciscans”) in approximately 1956. Fr. Ritter worked at seminaries in New York, Massachusetts, and Pennslvania in the early years of his career. With the permission of the Conventual Franciscans, Fr. Ritter founded Covenant House in New York in 1968. Fr. Ritter operated Covenant House, with the financial help of the Conventual Franciscans, from 1972 to 1990.
Numerous people have come forward accusing Fr. Ritter of sexual impropriety and malfeasance during his time at the Covenant House. In December 1989, a man reported that Fr. Ritter had sexually abused him when a was a teenager in 1973. A month later, another man came forward alleging Fr. Ritter started a sexual relationship with him when he was 13 years old and that the relationship lasted on and off for 13 years. The following month, a third man came forward alleging Fr. Ritter had also sexually abused him when he was a teenager. Fr. Ritter has also been accused of using Covenant House funds to fund a sexual relationship he had with a 26-year-old former male prostitute.
(Source: http://www.bishop-accountability.org/assign/Ritter_Bruce_N_ofm.conv.htm)