Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1911-02-04
Venerable Archbishop Ryan is
Suffering From Heart
Failure.
Has Led a Strenuous Life For
Four Scores OF
Years.
FRESHMAN and AN AMERICAN

AS we go to press the venerable
and illustrious Archbishop Ryan, OF
Philadelphia, is barely alive, and his
| physicians entertain no hope that he
will survive more than a few hours.
He has been critically i'll since
| Thursday of last week. The Arch
bishop is eighty years old, and until
very recently has been in robust
health. His death will mean a great
! loss to his archdiocese, to the church
and to the United States.
4 Patrick John Ryan was born at
Thurles, County Tipperary, ireland,
in 1881. He received his ecclesias-
tical training at Carlow College and
was ordained subdeacon there.
/ When ne was twenty-one years old
he came to the United States and
entered the diocese of st. Louis as
professor of English literature at
Carondolet Seminary. He was a
little later ordained deacon with the
privilege of preaching in the st.
Louis Cathedral, and on September
! 8, 1853, he was ordained priest and
became assistant pastor of the Cathe-
dral. This position he held until
/ 1856, when he became it's rector. In
1860 he was transferred to the
Church of the Annunciation, st.
Louis, where he remained for twelve
years. During part of that time the
civil war was in progress and Father
Ryan was Chaplain of the military
| hospital and prison.
On April IA, 1872, he was con-
secrated titular Bishop of Tricomia,
Coadjutor with the right of success
sion, of Most Rev. Archbishop Ken
rick, of st. Louis. On January 6,
1884, he was elevated TO the arche-
piscopacy as Archbishop of Salamis,
and on June s of the same year be-
came Archbishop of Philadelphia.
As head of the province of Phila-
delphia he had control of the sub
ordinate dioceses of Altoona, Erie,
Harrisburg, Pittsburg and Scranton.
In the diocese of Philadelphia alone
he had an area of 5,043 square
miles and a Catholic population of
about $4,000. The duties of Arch
bishop Ryan were onerous and ex-
acting, but he carried to Philadel-
phia the same Irish intelligence and
| dSC lhdl hC ndu ldhtl W Ol.
Louis. In 1897 he was given relief
to some extent by the appointment
of the Right Rev. Edmond F. Prem
dergast as Auxiliary Bishop, and in
1907 his duties were a little more
lightened by the appointment of the
Right Rev. Softer Stephen Ortynsky
as Greek Catholic Bishop with an
official residence in Philadelphia.
Under the direction of Archbishop
Ryan the Philadelphia diocese has
made great strides. He was known
as a great educator, and the at
tendance in the Catholic parochial
schools in Philadelphia has passed
the $4,000 mark. In the matter of
Catholic institutions Philadelphia is
one of the foremost in America. ST.
Charles Seminary at Overlook is
famed throughout the country. One
of the great works of Archbishop
Ryan's administration is the Pro-
tectory for Homeless Boys, instituted
by him in 1895. The protectory is
capable of accommodating 500 boys,
is equipped with school furniture
and apparatus for instruction in the
trades, and the entire cost of half
a million dollars has been entirely
paid. Arch 0ishop Ryan was hon
ored by former President Roosevelt
by being appointed a member of
the Indian Commission.
Churchman, statesman and patri-
otie American that he was, Arch
bishop Ryan never forgot that he
was an Irishman. One of his
proudest memories was that Daniel
O'Connell, the great Liberator, had
once placed his hands on the head
of the twelve-year-old red haired
Patrick Ryan, praised him and pre-
dicted great future for him.
Pope Plus X. held Archbishop
Ryan in high esteem and when he
! learned of his serious illness on
Tuesday sent cable message with
his Apostolic blessing.