Curriculum Vitae

CURRICULUM VITAE

Father Richard J. Rego, S.T.L.

For the past ten years, I have been the pastor of the Immaculate Conception Church in Ajo, AZ. A native of Philadelphia, I attended the Annunciation, B.V.M. Catholic School and Southeast Catholic High. At the age of eighteen, I entered the seminary and remained for four years. Then, for personal reasons, I took a leave of absence. This lasted for twenty years, a length of time that I never anticipated. However, I never lost sight of the Priesthood and after a number of years in the business world, I entered Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Ct. There, I completed my theological studies and received a B.A. and also a Master of Divinity Degree.

On June 4, 1983, at the age of 48, I was ordained to the Priesthood for the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona. After several years of parish work, my Bishop granted me permission to pursue further studies in Rome. I attended the Angelicum Pontifical University and earned an S.T.L. (i.e., a Pontifical degree which gives one license to teach Sacred Theology in any Pontifical University). Next, I completed two years of doctoral seminars at the Pope John Paul II institute for the Study of Marriage and the Family in Rome. Dr. William May was my doctoral director and my thesis theme was on the Pastoral Application of the Anti-Contraceptive Norm of Humanae Vitae N. 14. However, due to the demands of parish life, I never completed my thesis.

Over the years, I have given parish missions in Corpus Christi, Texas; Auburn, New York; Sherwood, Ohio; Beaverton, Oregon; Omaha, Nebraska; Dane, Wisconsin, Riverside and Sacramento, California. In addition to articles in the Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Soul Magazine, the South Texas Catholic and the Nebraska Register, I have had the following works published by Leaflet Missal Company, St. Paul, MN:

1) An Adult Guide To Conscience For the Sacrament Of Confession

2) The True Meaning Of Love; a defense of the encyclical, “Humanae Vitae.”

3) NO! NO! It is a Sin!; an analysis of the Congregation for the Faith’s Declaration on Sexual Ethics and also a brief look at the life and martyrdom of St. Maria Goretti.

4) The Gift Beyond Compare; a collection of thirty-three reflections on the Holy Eucharist as Sacrifice and Sacrament.

Each Sunday, after offering my Masses at the Immaculate Conception Church in Ajo, I drove 150 miles to Tucson to offer the traditional Latin Mass at Holy Family Church.

As of February 1, 2006, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, generously responding to the petitions of those devoted to the traditional Latin Mass, established the Saint Gianna Latin Mass Community. I am very grateful to Bishop Kicanas for having assigned me to serve as their Chaplain.