Congregation of the Mission
Ryan was born in Almonte, Ontario on January 1, 1825, and later moved with his family to Pennsylvania, where he entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary at Overbrook in 1841. On May 5, 1846, he joined the Congregation of the Mission (also known as the Lazarists or Vincentians) at Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Francis Kenrick on June 24, 1849, and named Visitor General of the Congregation of the Mission in the United States in 1857.