UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org
Summary of Case: Born and raised in New Jersey, Bruce Ritter was ordained for the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (Conventual Franciscans) in 1956, in Rome, Italy. After doctoral studies in theology, he returned to the United States in 1959 where he was assigned to his Order’s seminaries in Rensselaer, NY, Granby, MA and then Pittsburgh, PA. From 1963 to 1968 he was a Manhattan College faculty member.
With permission from his superiors, in 1968 Ritter began to take in homeless youth in New York’s East Village, beginning with six teenage boys and girls, whom he allowed to sleep on the floor of his tenement apartment. Ritter’s Covenant House for homeless youth was officially incorporated in 1972. With Ritter’s drive, gift for fundraising and charismatic personality, the shelter grew by 1990 to sixteen cities in North and South America and had 3,700 staff members, both paid and volunteer. Ritter became a widely known and admired public figure, earning praise from Presidents Reagan and Bush, Sr.
In December 1989 a 26-year-old male prostitute claimed publicly that he and Ritter had recently had an eight-month affair, which the priest funded with money from Covenant House. Soon thereafter, three more young man came forward, each alleging sexual contact over the years with Ritter, beginning when they were young teens and had gone to him for help at Covenant House. Ritter denied the allegations. In February 1990 he resigned under pressure. The Manhattan District Attorney investigated the alleged financial misconduct, but did not press charges. An internal Covenant House investigation yielded “extensive evidence” that Ritter had engaged in sexual misconduct with residents. One of Ritter’s accusers filed suit, but it was thrown out in 1991 due to the statute of limitations.
Ritter left his order and went on to live a quiet life in a farmhouse in rural Ostego County, going by his given name, John. He died in October 1999.
Born: February 25, 1927
Ordained:1956
Died: October 7, 1999
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