In 1968, Father Bruce Ritter asked his superior — Cardinal Francis Spellman of the Archdiocese of New York — for permission to take homeless teenagers, boys and girls, into his home in Manhattan. As noted previously, Spellman was accused of pedophilia and ordained known pedophiles while serving as the highest-ranking Catholic priest in the United States. Spellman was also a close associate, client and friend of Roy Cohn.

Pictured below are George and Barbara Bush at Covenant House in Manhattan (1989). Ritter is seated in the background.