Richard Charles Patrick Hanifen

Richard Charles Patrick Hanifen (born June 15, 1931) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of Colorado Springs, serving from 1984 to 2003. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Denver (1974–84).

Hanifen was born in Denver, Colorado, the third of four children of Edward Anselm and Dorothy Elizabeth (née Ranous) Hanifen. His grandfather immigrated from Canada to Leadville during the 1880s silver boom, and eventually became a successful mine owner; Hanifen's father co-founded a prominent Colorado investment firm. As a child, Hanifen suffered from chronic asthma. He received his early education at the parochial school of St. Philomena Church, where he occasionally served as an altar boy. He attended Regis High School while working as a delivery boy for a grocery store.

After graduating from high school in 1949, Hanifen enrolled at Regis College in Denver. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Regis in 1953. He then began his studies for the priesthood at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Denver. During his studies, he and fellow seminarian Eugene John Gerber were selected to participate in an experimental pairing between St. Thomas and the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He later earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from Catholic University in 1959.

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