About the SVD who submitted the video
Like the Society of the Divine Word, Fr. Richard Andrus, SVD, has a long history of ministry in the African-American community. This recipient of Ebony-Jet Magazine’s Black on Black Love Award has served the people of the African-American community for nearly three decades.

In 1983, Fr. Andrus was ordained to the priesthood and assigned as associate pastor of St. Elizabeth, Chicago’s oldest African-American parish. During his first assignment at St. Elizabeth, Mayor Harold Washington appointed him to the Commission on Youth and Gang Violence.

In 1987, the Society of the Divine Word tapped him to lead St. Nicholas, St. Louis’s oldest African-American Catholic community, where he served for 13 years before returning to St. Elizabeth in 2000.

As pastor, he not only provides pastoral care for the south side community but also leadership in addressing social justice issues. He is a board member of the Renaissance Collaborative, a group of four churches of different denominations that provides housing for senior citizens and others in need. He also is an integral part of Neighbors Opposed to Weapons (NOW), which identifies tensions between street gangs and works to negotiate peace before violence occurs.

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Fr. Andrus holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Divine Word College in Epworth, Iowa, and a Master of Divinity with Mission Specialization in African-American Theology from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He completed his cross-cultural training at St. Augustine in New Orleans.