DENVER (CO)
Crux
March 18, 2019
By Claire Giangravè
A U.S. parish priest and author, who experienced sexual abuse by clergy, takes on the “crisis of masculinity” in society and the Catholic Church one lecture at a time, by always “keeping it real” and remembering that “even in the midst of all this darkness, there is always hope.”
“We need to be called to this new masculinity, which isn’t a power thing, it isn’t about dominating anything,” said Father Larry Richards in a March 14 interview with Crux. “A true masculinity is he who lays down his life in love.”
“A true masculinity is Christ on the Cross,” he added.
Richards has been a diocesan priest for over 30 years, ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania by Bishop Michael Murphy. He has been a Catholic chaplain to college campuses and a teacher at all-boys high schools.
In 2004 he founded “The Reason For Our Hope Foundation,” which – in his words – focuses on bringing people closer to the Catholic faith and showing them that “God is not out to get you, he’s out to love you.”
In 2009 he released his first book, Be a Man! Becoming the Man God Created You To Be, which became Ignatius Press’s number one book in 2010.
“My thing is to try and help people – especially men – to come to know God, to know God’s love,” he said.
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