聖約翰學院
Ryan was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on May 3, 1957. An educator, Ryan served as principal of Saint Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs, California in the 1970s. He was named president-rector of the Archdiocesan Saint John's College Seminary in 1986, and was consecrated a bishop by Cardinal Roger Mahony on May 31, 1990, for the titular see of Remesiana. He was appointed the third Bishop of Monterey in California by Pope John Paul II in 1992. Ryan served as the president of the California Catholic Conference from 1997–2004. He was succeeded as Bishop of Monterey by Sacramento's former Auxiliary Bishop, Richard John Garcia.