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St. Catherine of Siena Church Welcomes
Fr. George Richards, Jr. as Pastor
by Eleanor Miller (as published in the Preston Pipeline)
Fr. George Richards, Jr. has been with the congregation of
St. Catherine of Siena Church since May 17, 2000 when he was assigned as Administrator and Judge of Norwich Tribunal. In addition to his duties at St. Catherine's he has been rendering general
counsel to the Most Rev. Daniel Hart, Bishop of the Norwich Diocese in all matters concerning the Church.
Following the masses on September 1, 2001, Fr. Richards announced that Bishop Hart had
appointed him to be pastor of St. Catherine's which will be effective through August 31, 2007. The parishioners greeted the announcement with enthusiastic applause.
From the time he can
remember, Fr. George Richards envisioned himself serving as a priest. He is an only child, son of George J. Richards Sr. and Margaret E. Richards of Pawcatuck, CT. He attended St. Michael’s
School in Pawcatuck where he served as an alter boy. Fr. Richards graduated from St. Bernard High School, Uncasville, CT in 1972. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French with Secondary School
certification along with minors in Theology and Philosophy from St. Anselm College, Manchester, NH in 1976.
After college, Fr. Richards entered the Peace Corps and taught English as a Second
Language in Morocco, North Africa. In addition, he taught English for special purposes in political science and computer science at the National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics in
Rabat. He also developed a French language program for Peace Corps volunteers and organized a summer English school for about 600 Moroccan students. He returned to the U.S. in 1976 and worked for
North American Liturgical Resources In Phoenix, AZ. Then, in 1981-83 he was a novice at St. Joseph's Cistercian (Trappist) Monastery in Spencer, MA. Subsequently he began graduate studies while
working at General Dynamics in Groton, CT. In 1987 he received the "Beyond the War Award" from the International Beyond the War Foundation in California; this for his achievement in helping
to establish peace in the world. In 1988, he was awarded a Masters of Science degree in Management from Rennsalaer Polytechnic Institute through the Harvard Graduate Center. Before entering Pope John
XXIII National Seminary in Weston, MA in September 1991, he worked as a translator and facility security officer under the auspices of the Defense Investigative Services of the U.S. Government for
Magnetic Bearings, Inc. an international engineering company.
While studying at the Pope John XXIII Seminary, Fr. Richards was pastoral care giver at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Brighton,
MA where he cared for out-patient cancer therapy and psychiatric patients.
Fr. Richards was ordained into priesthood in May 1995 and he celebrated his first Mass of Thanksgiving on May
28, 1995 at his home town church, St. Michael the Archangel in Pawcatuck.
After serving at St. Patrick Cathedral (1995-97) and St. Mary's in Willimantic (1997-98) he studied at the Catholic
University of America in Washington, DC (1998-2000) where he was awarded a License to Practice Canon Law (JCL) on May 13, 2000. And then he arrived in Preston n May 17th. Fr. Richards message to the
parishioners is as follows:
“It is my true desire and hope that I may serve the people of St. Catherine of Siena Parish who consider themselves to be a Eucharistic community of
believers in the name of Jesus Christ. With the help of the Holy Spirit may we all reach out to one another and to those who visit our community. I pray that we will continue to grow in our spiritual
relationship with God and one another. I am pleased to be able to make this journey with you. God Bless, Father George”.
The parishioners of St. Catherine of Siena Church are
very fortunate to be served by one with such a varied and impressive background and Fr. Richards has expressed that he is most happy to settle in one place after his extensive travels.
Fr.
Richards will be formally installed as pastor on October 7 at the 10:00 AM Mass and a reception will follow in Siena Hall. The Preston Pipeline offers congratulations to Fr. Richards.
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