Edward Francis Ryan

Edward Francis Ryan (March 10, 1879 – November 3, 1956) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the diocese of Burlington in Vermont from 1945 until his death in 1956.

Biography

Early life Edward Ryan was born on March 10, 1879, in Lynn, Massachusetts, to Simon Joseph and Mary (née Breen) Ryan. After graduating from Ingalls Grammar School in Lynn, he attended Lynn Classical High School and Boston College in Boston, where he was editor-in-chief of The Stylus. He furthered his studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

Priesthood Ryan was ordained to the priesthood in Rome for the Archdiocese of Boston by Archbishop Giuseppe Ceppetelli on August 10, 1905. He received his episcopal consecration on January 3, 1945, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston from Archbishop Richard Cushing, with Archbishop Francis Spellman and Bishop Francis Keough serving as co-consecrators.

During his 11-year-long tenure as bishop, Ryan established the Charterhouse of Our Lady of Bethlehem, the only Carthusian monastery in the United States, in Whitingham, Vermont, in 1951. He also established the Benedictine Priory at Weston, Vermont in 1953, and the College of St. Joseph at Rutland, Vermont, in 1954. He erected almost two dozen new churches, established the Vermont Catholic Tribune in 1956, and provided a camp and a school for boys in Burlington.

Death Edward Ryan died in Burlington on November 3, 1956, at age 77. He is buried at Resurrection Park Cemetery in South Burlington, Vermont.