VICAR FOR JUDICIAL AFFAIRS
Very Rev. Mitred Archpriest Father Clifton Ransom, MA, LL.M, JD
Vicar for Judicial Affairs
Contact the Office of the Judicial Vicar
clif330@earthlink.net
The Very Reverend Mitred Archpriest Clifton Ransom is a child of the Great Depression, having been born in Houston
Texas in 1935. He was baptized, made his First Communion, was confirmed,
ordained and married in the Roman Catholic Church. Currently, Father Clif resides in Missouri City, Texas, just outside Houston. Father Clif was recently widowed, but his wife, Pani Matka Dorothy, remains forever in our hearts and prayers.
Father Clif received the greater part of his priestly formation at the
hands of the Capuchin and Jesuit Fathers, and he still maintains cordial
relations with both of these great religious orders. Both of these groups
preserved and promoted the Byzantine Liturgy and spirituality, with the hope that their trainees
would some day be able to minister within the Soviet Union, after the fall
of communism. As a result of this special training, when he was ordained
in 1968, Father Clif was granted dual faculties, and he was able to celebrate
the Liturgy in both the Byzantine and Roman Rites. Father Ransom received
his Master's Degree in Sacred Scripture from Saint Louis University in
1970.
Father Ransom served as a priest in several Eastern and Western parishes until formally leaving the active ministry in the Roman
Church in 1974. He also taught in several Catholic institutions during this
time. Also, while yet engaged in the active ministry in his native diocese
(now archdiocese) of Galveston-Houston, Father Ransom earned his first law
degree (JD) from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 1974. He earned his second
law degree, a Master of Laws Degree in Taxation (LL.M) from Washington School
of law in 1992.
Subsequent to his resigning his formal
ministry as a Roman Catholic priest, Father Ransom continued to serve the People of God in a variety
of less formal ways. He has been engaged in public service law for thirty-two
years. He served as the Texas and Louisiana Regional Director for the National
Office of Black Catholics, and he tried to assist the Moorish Orthodox Church
in establishing a foundation in this country. For this effort he was awarded
that Church's Lifetime Achievement Award for the year, 1996. He was active
in the HIV/AIDS ministry during the decade of the nineties, and for this
he also received several awards.
Father Clif's second formal
ministry began with his incardination into the Autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox
Church on September 29, 2005. He received his Ukase of Incardination five
days later, on October 4, 2006, the feast of his beloved Francis. Father is presently
assigned to the Chancery, and is at the service of the entire jurisdiction as an
advisor in legal matters. He is currently forming an Eastern Orthodox
mission in Southwest Houston.
Very Rev. Mitred Archpriest Father Clifton Ransom, MA, LL.M, JD
Vicar for Judicial Affairs
Contact the Office of the Judicial Vicar
clif330@earthlink.net