James Ryan

James Ryan (June 17, 1848 – July 2, 1923) was an American Catholic prelate who served as the third Bishop of Alton from 1888 until his death in 1923.

Biography Early life and education A native of Ireland, James Ryan was born on June 17, 1848, in Farneybridge, near Thurles in County Tipperary. He was the son of Denis and Ellen (née Stapleton) Ryan. His father died shortly afterwards.

At the age of fourteen, Ryan was enrolled by Bishop Martin John Spalding of Louisville into St. Thomas College at Bardstown, where he studied for six years. He then successively served as an assistant at St. Thomas Church in Bardstown, pastor of St. Martin Church in Flaherty, and pastor of St. James Church in Elizabethtown. By the end of his tenure, there were 161 churches, 212 priests, and 64 parochial schools to serve a Catholic population of 87,000. One of his most significant accomplishments was the construction of a new orphanage, which opened a month after his death.

Ryan was strongly opposed to the appointment of an Apostolic Delegate in the United States. The Holy See found his communications on the matter to be so offensive that Cardinals Mariano Rampolla and Mieczysław Halka-Ledóchowski wrote to Cardinal James Gibbons in January 1893, demanding that Ryan issue an apology.

Death Ryan died in Alton on June 2, 1923, at the age of 75. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving American Catholic bishop.