RYAN, PATRICK JOHN

Second archbishop of the Philadelphia, Pa., archdiocese; b. Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland, Feb. 20, 1831; d. Philadelphia, Feb. 11, 1911. After early education with the Christian Brothers in his native town and at the school of J. L. Naughton in Dublin, where he received a sound training in the Latin and Greek classics, he began his studies for the priesthood at St. Patrick's College, Carlow. Adopted for the Archdiocese of St. Louis by Abp. Peter Kenrick, he came to the U.S. in 1852 as a deacon. While still lacking priestly orders, he taught for a short time in the diocesan seminary at Carondelet, Mo., and preached often in the cathedral. The pulpit eloquence that would later rank him as the most outstanding ecclesiastical orator of his time was already evident. He was ordained by Kenrick on Sept. 8, 1853.

Early Career. Ryan held successively three pastorates at St. Louis: at the Cathedral of St. Louis, at the Church of the Annunciation (which he built), and at St. John's Church. At the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1866 he was one of Kenrick's theologians, and was selected, with Abp. John Lancaster Spalding and Isaac Hecker, CSP, to preach the main sermons at the conclave. His reputation as an orator followed him to Rome, where, on a visit in 1868, he gave the English Lenten course at the request of Pope Pius IX. He was vicar-general and administrator of the St. Louis archdiocese during Kenrick's attendance at vatican council i (1869–70). On Feb. 14, 1872, Ryan was consecrated titular bishop of Tricomia, and coadjutor bishop of St. Louis with right of succession. Expert, tactful, and vigorous in handling the archdiocesan matters placed under his charge, he served in this post for 12 years, during which his work with converts also was notable.

Ordinary of Philadelphia. On Jan. 6, 1884, Ryan was appointed titular archbishop of Salamis; on June 8, he succeeded the deceased Abp. James F. Wood as head of the See of philadelphia. At the time Philadelphia was the second largest diocese in the nation. During his episcopacy in this key post, Ryan displayed an intense solicitude for the poor, an untiring zeal in building up archdiocesan educational facilities, and an unusual effectiveness in expounding to Catholics and Protestants alike the doctrines of the faith and in defining the attitude of the Church on current issues. He established the St. Francis Industrial School for Boys, the Philadelphia Protectory for Boys, the St. Joseph's Home for Working Boys, a foundling asylum and maternity hospital, and an additional home for the aged. St. Vincent's Home for orphan children was purchased with his golden jubilee fund of $200,000.

African Americans and Native Americans were always special objects of Ryan's charity, and Pres. Theodore Roosevelt appointed him to serve on the Federal government's Indian commission. With the archbishop's encouragement Mother Katharine drexel founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People. Two African American parishes were erected, and the Holy Ghost Fathers, devoted to serving black Catholics, were established at Cornwells, in suburban Philadelphia. Increased attention was given to the thousands of European immigrants who were flocking into the Philadelphia area and the up-country districts later included in the Diocese of Allentown. By 1912 more than 82 new parishes had been founded for the care of the various national groups in the archdiocese.

Interest in Education. In the field of parochial elementary and diocesan high school education, Ryan raised the Philadelphia archdiocese to a place of leadership. He opened the first diocesan high school for boys, the Roman Catholic High School, and Hallahan High School for girls. In several sections of the city, high school centers also were established for girls. The parochial schools already existing received constant attention, and in new parishes, the archbishop insisted on an adequate school before the erection of a fully satisfactory church building.

Ryan's style in the pulpit and on the lecture platform was in the best tradition of late 19th-century sonorous oratory. His wit and humor—evident too in his private intercourse—added spice to his performance. His sermons and lectures produced respect for and better understanding of the Church among Protestants. The honorary degree he received from the University of Pennsylvania was evidence of his success in breaking down the anti-Catholic feeling that had previously existed in Philadelphia. The love of learning that marked the best of Ryan's lectures led him to foster the American Catholic Quarterly Review, and to make it one of the leading exponents of Catholic thought. The memorial library that bears his name at the diocesan seminary at Overbrook appropriately symbolizes Ryan's use of scholarship for the spread of the faith.

Bibliography: j. l. j. kirlin, Catholicity in Philadelphia (Philadelphia 1909).

[j. t. durkin]