James Hugh Ryan

James Hugh Ryan (December 15, 1886 – November 23, 1947) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as rector of the Catholic University of America (1928–1935) and as bishop and later archbishop of the Archdiocese of Omaha (1935–1947).

Biography

Early life James Ryan was born on December 15, 1886, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to John Marshall and Brigid (née Rogers) Ryan. John Ryan worked as superintendent of motor power of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad. James Ryan attended Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Mount St. Mary's Seminary of the West in Cincinnati, Ohio. Following his return to Indiana, he was appointed chaplain of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in Indiana and professor of psychology at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, from 1911 to 1921.

Ryan became a well-known and powerful figure in Washington. He received his episcopal consecration on October 25, 1933, from Bishop Joseph Chartrand, with Bishops Thomas Edmund Molloy and Joseph Ritter serving as co-consecrators, at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Following his return, he declared, "The foundation has been laid for a 'Catholic front' to protect democracy in this hemisphere."

When the Diocese of Omaha was elevated to the rank of an archdiocese, Ryan became its first Archbishop on August 4, 1945. He died two years later from a heart attack at age 60.