Vincent James Ryan (July 1, 1884 – November 10, 1951) was an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the

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who served as bishop of the

Diocese of Bismarck The Diocese of Bismarck ( la, Dioecesis Bismarckiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in North Dakota. The current bishop of the diocese is Bishop David Kagan. It is a suffragan diocese in the eccles ...

in North Dakota from 1940 until his death.

Biography

Early life

The fourth of five children, Vincent Ryan was born on July 1, 1884, in Arlington, Wisconsin, to Thomas Ryan and Ann Welch Ryan. He was raised on the family farm, and attended high school in

Lodi, Wisconsin Lodi ( ) is a city in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,189 at the 2020 census. Lodi is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Isaac Palmer founded the village of Lodi in 1846 in what was then ...

, for two years. In 1902, Ryan entered St. Francis Seminary in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

. From 1906 to 1912, he studied at

Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity The Saint Paul Seminary (SPS) is a Roman Catholic major seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. A part of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, SPS prepares men to enter the priesthood and permanent diaconate, and educates lay men and women on ...

in St. Paul, Minnesota. Seeking a career as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

, he was accepted by

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

's Bishop John Shanley into the Diocese of Fargo.

Priesthood

Ryan was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood by Archbishop

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

on June 7, 1912. Following his arrival in North Dakota a month later, Ryan served, until 1936, as chancellor of the diocese and

private secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in ...

to Bishop James O'Reilly. In addition to these duties, he erected St. Anthony's Parish in Fargo, North Dakota, where he served as

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

from 1917 to 1936. Ryan also organized and served as the first director of the Catholic Welfare Bureau, which became one of the most important charities in the state. He was

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

of the diocese from 1939 to 1940, and raised to the rank of domestic prelate in 1939. Ryan was elected president of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference in 1941, and co-authored ''Manifesto of Rural Life''. He held a

Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus; abbreviated STB), not to be confused with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology, is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacre ...

from

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

in Washington, D.C.

Bishop of Bismarck

On March 19, 1940, Ryan was appointed the second bishop of the Diocese of Bismarck by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on May 28, 1940, from Bishop Aloisius Muench, with Bishops Joseph Busch and Thomas Welch serving as co-consecrators, at St. Mary's Cathedral in Fargo. He was installed the next day by Archbishop John Murray. During his 11-year tenure, Ryan constructed 69 church buildings for a total cost of over ten million dollars. Among these buildings was the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, which was dedicated in August 1945. Ryan founded the diocesan newspaper, ''Dakota Catholic Action'', in 1941 and opposed the 1948 "anti-garb" law, which prohibited nuns from wearing their religious habit while teaching in public schools in North Dakota.

Death and legacy

Ryan died on November 10, 1951, at age 67 in Bismarck. His burial was at the city's St. Mary's Cemetery.

External links

*
Manifesto of Rural Life
' *
Dakota Catholic Action
'

References

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Vincent James 1884 births 1951 deaths St. Francis Seminary (Wisconsin) alumni Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity alumni Catholic University of America alumni People from Arlington, Wisconsin Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo Roman Catholic bishops of Bismarck 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Catholics from Wisconsin