Father Richard T. Carr is moving from the far eastern region of the diocese to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He will leave his role as parochial vicar of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Colonial Beach to become pastor of St. Peter Church in Washington (Rappahannock County), effective June 25.
Father Carr was born Feb. 19, 1969, in New York City. He earned a bachelor’s in political science and history from Binghamton University, N.Y., 1991, and a master’s in American politics from The Catholic University of America in Washington in 1993. He graduated from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in 2001. As a transitional deacon, he served at the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria in 2000.
He was ordained June 9, 2001, by Bishop Paul S. Loverde at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington. His first assignment was as parochial vicar, Our Lady of Angels Church in Woodbridge. He later served as parochial vicar of St. Timothy Church in Chantilly, 2005; St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church, 2007; St. John the Baptist Church in Front Royal, 2009; St. Michael Church in Annandale, 2013; and at Holy Trinity Church in Gainesville, 2018. He has served as parochial vicar of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church since 2023.
After college, he came to the Washington area because of his interest in politics, but after moving to the Arlington diocese, he soon realized that the Catholic faith was of far greater importance. Thanks to the wonderful example of so many good priests and lay faithful (especially in the Legion of Mary), he discerned his call to the priesthood.
When asked why he chose to be a parish priest in the Arlington diocese, he said that he had a “debt to give back what I received” in Arlington during the time of his discernment. He added that he was looking forward to making the “mercy and forgiveness of God available to the people.”
Father Carr was given special permission to study twice at the Institute for Culture in Puebla, Mexico, initially after first theology and again after his ordination to the diaconate. He told the Catholic Herald in 2001 that he remembered the people of Puebla being hungry for the faith. He said it gave him great joy to be able to enter their simple homes to give a blessing.
