Archbishop Patrick J. Ryan (1831-1911)

Today marks the death of Archbishop Patrick J. Ryan (1831-1911), the sixth ordinary of the Philadelphia Archdiocese. Born in Tipperary, he studied for the priesthood at St. Patrick’s College in Carlow. Like many seminarians, he was invited to work in the United States. While still a deacon, he went to the Diocese of St. Louis. Ordained a priest there in 1853, he worked in St. Louis parishes and rose to Vicar General under Archbishop Peter Kenrick (1806-1896). In 1872 he was named coadjutor Bishop of St. Louis with the right of succession to Bishop Kenrick. In 1884, he was named Archbishop of Philadelphia (which was named an archdiocese in 1875). Ryan’s 27 years as Archbishop were years of growth. Sixty-three parishes were created for specific ethnic groups: Polish, Italian, Slovak, Lithuanian, and Hungarian. In 1889, he founded St. Peter Claver, the first African-American parish in the archdiocese, and in 1910 a Ruthenian Catholic cathedral was dedicated in Philadelphia, the first in the United States. School-building was a priority in the Ryan years, with 45 parochial schools founded. A school board was started in 1887, and a superintendent of schools was appointed in 1909. Roman Catholic High School for Boys, founded in 1890, was the first free Catholic high school in America.