
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 12, 1990                   TAG: 9007120439
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/11   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

NUN HEADS TROUBLED YOUTH HOME

The troubled Covenant House for young runaways has turned to a nun to restore cash and credibility that were diminished in a scandal that forced the resignation of its founder.

Covenant House said Wednesday it selected Sister Mary Rose McGeady as president. She replaces the Rev. Bruce Ritter, a Franciscan priest who resigned in February.

McGeady, 62, is an associate executive director of Catholic Charities in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. She oversees 80 social service programs, a $40 million budget and a staff of more than 800 people.

Covenant House shelters 25,000 youths annually in 17 dormitories in the United States, Canada and Latin America.

Ritter, who resigned Feb. 27, had been accused of having sexual relations with shelter residents and lending Covenant House funds to two former board members. He has denied wrongdoing.

Covenant House officials have expressed concern that the institution may have difficulty surviving without Ritter, whose fund-raising appeals attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in donations.

by CNB