[2] After graduating from Xavier University Preparatory School in New Orleans in 1958, he joined the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart (Josephites), entering the Mary Immaculate Novitiate in Walden, New York.
[1] After his ordination, the Josephites assigned Ricard as an associate pastor at St. Peter Claver Parish in New Orleans.
[5] During his time as bishop, Ricard served as chair of Catholic Relief Services from 1995 to 2002, as a member of Pontifical Council Cor Unum in Rome and as chair of the USCCB's Committee on Social Development and World Peace, Domestic Social Development from 1992 to 1995.
On December 22, 2009, Ricard suffered a stroke and was treated at Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital of Pensacola.
[6] Ricard tendered his letter of resignation as bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee to Pope Benedict XVI in February 2011, citing poor health.
[7] On November 24, 2021, Ricard issued a statement with Archbishop Wilton Gregory calling for justice following the 2020 murder of Ahmaud Arbery by three men in a suburb of Brunswick, Georgia.