Fr. Ranjan D'Sa, OCD

Pastor

Fr. Ranjan D'Sa, OCD, is a Discalced Carmelite priest and pastor serving at St. Gregory the Great Parish in Cambridge, Ontario. Ordained in Mangalore, India, in 2001, he brings a contemplative grounding in Carmelite spirituality and formal training in pastoral counseling to the daily work of leading a parish and walking with the people in it.

His Path to the Parish

Fr. Ranjan D'Sa was ordained to the priesthood on December 29, 2001, after nearly thirteen years of seminary studies and monastic formation in the Discalced Carmelite Order. His early priestly years were spent teaching philosophy to young seminarians, directing the Pushpashrama social work institute in Mysore, and serving as director of candidates for the Carmelite order — work that shaped how he forms people, not just how he instructs them.

A period of study in New York, where he completed a master's degree in pastoral care and counseling at Fordham University, added a second lens to his ministry: one trained specifically on listening, grief, and the practical work of spiritual counseling. Paired with his earlier degree in philosophy from Karnataka University of Dharwad, it gives his homilies and his one-on-one counsel a particular shape — reasoned, patient, and unhurried.

He served for ten years as pastor of Saint Dominic Church in Oakville, Ontario, before beginning his current post at St. Gregory the Great Parish in Cambridge in October 2024. Across both parishes, his approach has stayed consistent: Carmelite prayer as the quiet center, an open door for counseling, and a personality parishioners describe as exuberant and outgoing rather than distant.

He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and continues to lead pilgrimages, drawing on a lifelong interest in the history and culture of the places he visits.