Be part of the transformation of End of Life Care

Opening Night Speaker

Professor Richard Groves is an internationally respected teacher on topics related to the end of life the soul and science of end of life care. A chaplain and counselor for thirty years, Richard speaks nine languages and has earned graduated degrees in medical ethics, pastoral theology, world religions and canon law. Richard was ordained a Roman Catholic priest and served as a volunteer chaplain and ethicist for the US Air Force and numerous North American health care systems.

Richard with his late wife, Mary, co-founded the Sacred Art of Living Center in Bend, Oregon in 1996. More than twenty thousand students throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania have graduated from the Sacred Art of Living & Dying training courses including more than three thousand physicians worldwide. Richard’s book, The American Book of Living & Dying: Lessons in Healing Spiritual Pain has been widely compared to the groundbreaking work of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. In 2006 the Groves created The Anamcara Project, a first of its kind professional apprenticeship in the arts of living and dying.

Richard has a passion for bringing together the worlds of spirituality, medical science, psychology and cultural diversity. As a university professor of philosophy and world religions, Richard is an advocate for a more innovative approach to education on issues related to eldercare and end-of-life caregiving.

Groves is a highly sought-after keynote speaker at conferences internationally on topics that include caregiver wellness, aging and palliative care. He continues to work as a tireless advocate for a more effective and holistic approach to pain management and human suffering. His latest project in an on-line education program called the Soul & Science for Caregivers. Richard is most proud of his family that includes three sons, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.