He was a holy man who helped visited some of the most seemingly despairing places on earth, offering comfort, supplies and whatever help he could. He was a religious leader who befriended rock stars, guided believers and seekers, and worked to better the lives of all, believers or not.
The Most Rev. John Ricard, a towering figure in Northwest Florida’s spiritual community and the longest-serving bishop in the history of the Catholic Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, died on May 20, 2026 in Washington, D.C. at the age of 86 years old.
He led Northwest Florida’s Catholic Diocese from 1997 until his retirement in 2011 because of health reasons. He was then named the diocese’s bishop emeritus. Ricard was the fourth bishop in the history of the diocese, which was established in November 1975, and which includes more than 70,000 Catholics in 53 parishes in 18 Northwest Florida counties.
He chose as his episcopal motto—Catholic bishops choose a motto that reflects their spiritual identity—”God is Gracious.”
“As the longest tenured bishop for our diocese and my predecessor, I looked to him as a mentor and brother who was always available to give me advice and support, said Bishop William Wack, current and sixth bishop of the diocese. “I am deeply grateful for his leadership and vision, which has set us on a firm foundation as a local church.”
Ricard was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in spring of 1968 and was assigned to a New Orleans church as an associate pastor. He then served as pastor for various churches in Washington D.C. He was made auxiliary bishop of Baltimore in 1984.
On Jan. 20, 1997, Pope John Paul II appointed Ricard bishop and spiritual leader of the Pensacola-Tallahassee Diocese.
Ricard was a peacemaker and humanitarian, former chairman of Catholic Relief Services, the church’s international charitable and support organization and visited numerous countries in eastern Europe and Africa on peace and relief missions. He served on the Catholic Relief Services board of directors from 1991 to 2002, including serving as chairman from 1996 to 2002.
In 2003, Ricard even partnered with the international rock star Bono of the Irish band U2 in an effort to convince then-U.S. President George W. Bush to increase funding to combat AIDS in Africa. Ricard and Bono had been friends for a few years by then. But he was also a friend to the poor and needy, helping hammer nails and build hopes after hurricanes, or lobbying local leaders for affordable housing and then organizing the Interfaith Housing Coalition of Northwest Florida to address housings concerns.
While bishop, he also served as chairman for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on International Policy and traveled to Darfur in Sudan numerous times in the 2000s to help survivors and those in danger from 2003 to 2005 when at estimated 200,000 ethnic Darfuri civilians were killed in what has since been labeled by some human rights organizations as genocide.
“He was a working bishop,” said Mary Holley-Lewis, a parish member of historic St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in downtown Pensacola and sister of Pensacola native and Tate High graduate Martin Holley, Bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Memphis in Tennessee. “He really was amongst the people. He had a huge impact worldwide, in parts of Africa and so many other places.”
Ricard was born of Creole descent in New Roads, Louisiana and born on a Leap Day—Feb. 29, 1940.
After graduating from a Catholic high school in New Orleans in 1958, he joined the St. Joseph’s Society of the Sacred Heart, also known as the Josephites, a Catholic society of apostolic life that was founded in 1893 in Baltimore, Maryland in service and in support of the African American community and which has always featured many Black Catholic priests.
It was then he began following his vocation to the priesthood continuing until Pope Benedict XVI accepted his request for early retirement in 2011 because of poor health.
Ricard suffered a stroke three just days before Christmas in 2009 and was admitted to Sacred Heart Hospital in critical condition. He underwent numerous surgeries and weeks of physical therapy before returning to limited work in early 2010.
In announcing his retirement, he said “I need to do this in fairness to the people of the diocese who depend on having strong leadership.”
He spoke of death even then.
“Your first instinct is survival,” he said in 2011. “But death isn’t anything we should be afraid of.”
But then he uttered a universal truth—”That’s easier said than done,” acknowledging “even Jesus feared death.”
After retirement, he was appointed as rector of St. Joseph Seminary, his alma mater, and in 2019 he was elected Superior General of the Josephites.
Patrice Bramble Majeski was a teacher at Sacred Heart Cathedral School for most of Ricard’s tenure as bishop and remembers his commanding demeanor and deportment.
“He was an amazing storyteller and his voice—I can close my eyes and hear it,” she said. “The inflection, the rhythm, the intonation—he not only spoke well, he spoke wise.
“You could feel his power—he had a presence,” Majeski said. “He was refined and had it all together. And he was a good shepherd. He was a man of God, and you could feel it when you were in his presence.”
Services and funeral arrangements have not been announced, though the diocese did release that Ricard will be buried at historic St. Michael’s Cemetery in downtown Pensacola.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Bishop John Ricard left mark on not just Pensacola, but on world
Reporting by Troy Moon, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
