MOST REVEREND JOHN H. RICARD, S.S.J.
Bishop John H. Ricard, S.S.J., has been the Bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee since March 13, 1997. He was appointed by Pope John Paul II. The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee encompasses approximately 70,000 Catholics and a territory that incorporates the panhandle of Florida extending 14,044 square miles from Pensacola to Tallahassee. Bishop Ricard moved from the Archdiocese of Baltimore where he served as Auxiliary Bishop since his Episcopal Ordination on July 2, 1984. Bishop Ricard is the former Chair of Catholic Relief Services where he served from 1995 to 2002. Bishop Ricard is the recent past Chair of the International Policy Committee for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops where he served from 2002-2005. He continues to serve on the board of the International Policy Committee and sits as Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Church in Africa.
Bishop was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and upon completion of high school entered the Josephite College Seminary in Newburgh, New York. He completed his theological training at St. Joseph Seminary in Washington, D.C., and was ordained to the priesthood on May 25, 1968. Since ordination, Bishop Ricard continued his studies, receiving a Masters Degree from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1970 and a Doctoral Degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1984.
LET NOTHING BE DONE WITHOUT THE BISHOP
“See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude[of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid.”
Saint Ignatius
Bishop of Antioch
Letter to Smyraeans
about 100 A.D.
BISHOP RICARD
Most Reverend John H. Ricard, S.S.J.
Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee
Ordained Bishop, July 2, 1984
Appointed Fourth Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee
Installed March 13, 1997
Most Reverend John H. Ricard, S.S.J.