C. J. Ryan

Christopher John Ryan (31 October 1943 – 20 February 2004) was a Scottish priest and scholar of Italian studies. His academic interests included Dante, Thomas Aquinas, and Michelangelo. He was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church between 1968 and 1986, before being received into the Church of England where he served as a priest from 1987 until his death.

Early life, education, and career Ryan was born on 31 October 1943 in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. He was educated at St Mary's College, Blairs, a minor seminary near Aberdeen.

Ryan translated the poetry of Michelangelo into English, publishing a volume with Dent in 1997 and a volume with Everyman Poetry in 1998. In 2019, three of Ryan's translations were used as part of the 'Bill Viola / Michelangelo' exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Ordained ministry Roman Catholic Church In 1968, Ryan was ordained into the Roman Catholic Church as a deacon and then as a priest. After five years, in 1981, he moved to Canada where he became a Fellow in Western Theology at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies of the University of Toronto. This also made him 'the first priest since the Reformation to have been Dean of both a Roman Catholic college and an Anglican college in the same university'. From 2002, he once more held a licence to officiate in the Diocese of Ely.

Death Ryan died on 20 February 2004, aged 60, after a short illness.

Personal life In 1987, Ryan married Henrietta McBurney during a service at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. For most of their marriage, they lived at Windsor Castle, where Henrietta worked as Deputy Curator of the Royal Collection of Prints and Drawings. They had three children together: a daughter and two sons.

Selected works

Michelangelo, The Poetry. Translated and edited by Christopher Ryan. London: J M Dent, 1997. .