Robert Ritchie (March 6, 1845 – January 7, 1907) was a prominent American

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

priest, author, and leader. He was born in

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and graduated from the

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where he was a member of the

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(1862); he was next graduated from the

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(1867) in New York. He was made deacon on June 30, 1867, and ordained to the priesthood in 1869. Ritchie served as curate at both the Church of the Messiah and the Church of the Advent in Boston. Ritchie was elected rector of the

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, Philadelphia in 1870 and served as rector for the ensuing 37 years. He was a deputy to the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1904. He was also a founder in 1897 of the Clerical Union for the Maintenance and Defense of Catholic Principles and a member of the Catholic Club of Philadelphia.

Personal life

Ritchie married Helena Bridge on June 21, 1871, in Boston. His brother Arthur Ritchie was also a major Anglo-Catholic leader, serving as rector of the Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch in New York City and editor of the ''Catholic Champion'' newspaper. (Robert Ritchie was a primary contributor to the ''Champion''.) Another brother, Edward Ritchie (1851-1936) succeeded Robert Ritchie as rector of St. James the Less, becoming rector emeritus in 1924 after retiring in 1923.

Bibliography

*''The Growth of the Papal Supremacy and Feudalism'' (New York Church Club Lectures, 1894) *''The Indissolubility of Marriage'' (1896) *
A Sermon Preached before the Vice-President and Council of the Clerical Union for the Maintenance and Defense of Catholic Principles, and the Catholic Club of Philadelphia in Memory of the Reverend Henry Robert Percival, D.D. in St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, November 10th, 1903
' (1903) from Philadelphia Studies

References

*Obituary, ''The New York Times'', January 8, 1907, p. 9. *Obituary, ''The Church Standard'', January 12, 1907, p. 383. *Francis A. Lewis,
Robert Ritchie: An Appreciation
from Philadelphia Studies {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Robert 1845 births 1907 deaths 19th-century American Episcopal priests American Anglo-Catholics Clergy from Philadelphia 20th-century American Episcopal priests Anglo-Catholic clergy University of Pennsylvania alumni