Born in India to deeply-committed Catholic parents, Fr Britto is one of seven children. He joined the Salesians of Don Bosco as a young man and was ordained a priest in 1981. After he completed his priestly formation and his early education in India, he came to the US for his graduate degree in Journalism at Marquette in January 1985. Moved by his pastoral experiences in parishes in the Midwest during his graduate studies at Marquette and the University of Illinois in Champaign, he requested to be incardinated into the archdiocese and as a result became a diocesan priest in 2003. After serving as an associate pastor at St Anne’s in Barrington for almost seven years and ministering as pastor of St Nicholas in Evanston for three years, he became pastor of St Paul of the Cross Parish in July 2009. Prior to coming to Park Ridge, he has served the Church as dean of philosophical studies, editor of a Catholic family magazine, campus minister, professor of mass communications, retreat preacher and spiritual director. He holds Master’s degrees in Physics, journalism and Systematic Theology, and a Doctorate in Mass Communications. He envisions the ideal Catholic parish to be a community of disciples who seek to live the example of Jesus as defined in our Catholic tradition. His ministerial priorities include nurturing Catholic education and the religious formation of children and young people, making faith accessible to today’s Catholic and strengthening Christian marriage and family life. "As one whose priesthood has been shaped by the stark realities of India, Fr Britto considers it crucial for a parish to come to the aid of the poor here in our own country and abroad."