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Patrick J. Ryan (chaplain)

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The Reverend Monsignor

Patrick J. Ryan

OBE OCI
Portrait of Chaplain Major General Ryan, c. 1956
Birth namePatrick James Ryan
Born(1902-12-03)December 3, 1902
Manannah, Minnesota, U.S.
DiedJune 5, 1978(1978-06-05) (aged 75)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Buried
Calvary Cemetery, Litchfield, Minnesota
AllegianceUnited States
Service / branchUnited States Army
Years of service1928–1958
RankMajor general
Service number0-17363
CommandsU.S. Army Chaplain Corps (CCH)
Battles / wars
Awards
Alma mater
ChurchCatholic (Latin Church)
Orders
Ordination1927 (priesthood)
by Austin Dowling
Rank

Patrick James Ryan (December 3, 1902 – June 5, 1978) was an American major general and Catholic priest who served as the 9th Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army from 1954 to 1958. Only briefly serving in a parish after his ordination for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul in 1927, he entered the Army Reserve as a chaplain in 1928. During World War II he served in North Africa and Italy where he earned numerous awards, including the Order of the British Empire. After the war, he held various roles at the Pentagon and at the Sixth Army in San Francisco before becoming Chief of Chaplains in 1954. At the time of his appointment he was the youngest man to ever hold the role, at 51 years old.

Early life

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Ryan was born in Manannah Township, Minnesota, near Litchfield, on December 3, 1902.[1] He attended high school at Saint Thomas Military Academy, graduating in 1919.[2] He graduated from the College of St. Thomas and the Saint Paul Seminary and became an ordained Roman Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul in 1927. He served briefly as a parish priest at St. Helena's in Minneapolis before entering the military as a chaplain.[2]

Chaplain Captain Ryan, c. 1937

Military career

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Ryan joined the United States Army Reserve and was commissioned as a first lieutenant in April 1928.[3][2] As a reservist, he was first assigned to Fort Snelling.[2] In December 1928, he was assigned to Fort Leavenworth until February 1929, when he was assigned to Fort Riley.[2][4] In 1932, he was assigned to Fort Shafter as chaplain to the 64th Coast Artillery.[2] In August 1935, he was assigned as the chaplain of Walter Reed Hospital where he remained until October 1939 when he returned to Fort Shafter and Fort Kamehameha.[1] He also assisted in organizing the first Army chaplain corps in Brazil.[5]

World War II

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In November 1941, Ryan was assigned as the chaplain of the 3rd Infantry Division.[2] He was deployed to North Africa, landing on November 8, 1942 as part of Operation Torch.[3][6][7] In the spring of 1943, Ryan was reassigned to the Fifth Army and served in Morocco, Sicily, and Italy.[6] He participated in the Operation Avalanche landings at Salerno.[6][2] On Christmas Eve, 1943, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel.[6] After participating in the liberation of Rome in June 1944, Ryan celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving attended by 10,000 people at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, with Cardinal Eugène Tisserant, secretary of the Sacred Oriental Congregation, presiding.[5][8][9][note 1] Along with other military officials, he was received in audience by Pope Pius XII on 7 June 1944.[8] Ryan prepared altars and coordinated with German priests to have Mass offered for the 500,000 German POWs in Italy.[11]

Post-war

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He returned from overseas in July 1945, and began serving in the Pentagon in September as director of plans and training in the office of Chief of Chaplains.[12][1] During that time, He was named the Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army in March 1946 and served in that role until September 1948. In June 1947, he was named a monsignor of the rank domestic prelate by Pope Pius XII.[13] From September 1948 to 1952, he was chaplain to the Sixth Army in San Francisco.[13] He was again named deputy chief in 1952, and was made brigadier general in 1953.[1][13]

Chief of Chaplains

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On March 18, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower nominated Ryan as the 9th Chief of Chaplains with the rank of major general.[13] Ryan was visiting troops in Korea at the time.[14] He was sworn in on May 1, 1954, with the rank of major general. At the age of 51, he was the youngest to ever hold the role.[15][16]

During his time as Chief of Chaplains, he established a 16-week "postgraduate" course for senior chaplains.[17] Ryan stated that a chaplain must not be "some effete busybody or do-gooder ... nor a religious recluse living in an ivory tower. He is a virile, fully-trained specialist."[17] His tenure as chief of chaplains was reported to have "vastly improved" the chaplaincy corps and "achieved the best approach to an all-around religious program" in the history of the Army.[12] He was called both a "chaplain's chaplain" and a "soldier's soldier".[12] With size of the army decreasing after the war, Ryan sought to increase chaplain numbers, especially in the United States Army Reserve and National Guard, to maintain higher proportions if the need rose again.[18] He retired as chief of chaplains on 30 October 1958.[7]

Later years

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After his retirement from the military, Ryan authored a book published by Random House entitled A Soldier Priest Talks to Youth that covered the topics of smoking, drinking, sex, and other relevant topics for adolescents.[19] He also served as the executive vice president of the Catholic Digest.[20] He served as chaplain of the Military Order of the World Wars and Grand Prior of the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem.[4][20] He was made a prothonotary apostolic by Pope Paul VI in 1967.[2]

Ryan died on June 5, 1978, in Washington, D.C.[20] He was one of four alumni of the Saint Paul Seminary in St. Paul, MN to become the Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army, the other three being Francis L. Sampson, Patrick J. Hessian, and Donald W. Shea.[21]

Awards and decorations

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Awards he received include the following:[2][5]

Distinguished Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star Medal
Army Commendation Medal
Bronze star
 American Defense Service Medal (with one bronze service star)
Arrowhead
Silver star
 European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (with arrowhead device and five campaign stars)
American Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Order of the British Empire (Officer)
Order of the Crown of Italy

Dates of rank

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Ryan's dates of rank were:[2]

Insignia Rank Component Date
 First lieutenant Officers Reserve Corps April 27, 1928
 First lieutenant Regular Army November 2, 1928
 Captain Regular Army October 5, 1933
 Major Regular Army October 6, 1940
 Lieutenant colonel (temporary) Army of the United States February 1, 1942
 Colonel (temporary) Army of the United States December 24, 1943
 Lieutenant colonel Regular Army June 27, 1946
 Colonel Regular Army March 11, 1948
 Brigadier general (temporary) Regular Army March 6, 1953
 Major general (temporary) Regular Army May 1, 1954

Notes

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  1. ^ While current liturgical vernacular commonly uses the terms "celebrating" and "presiding" interchangeably, "presiding" may be used in a more technical sense wherein a prelate attends the Mass in choro and is not the one offering the Mass.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Col. Patrick Ryan Names Deputy Chief of Chaplains". The Evening Star. Washington DC. March 13, 1946. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Candee, Marjorie Dent, ed. (1956). Current Biography Yearbook 1955. Current Biography Yearbook. Vol. 16. New York: H. W. Wilson Company. pp. 522–524. Retrieved December 17, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ a b "Army Chief of Chaplains Slates Visit To Ft. Bliss". El Paso times. January 21, 1958. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "A Military Hall of Fame". The Kansas City Times. February 25, 1956. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Father Patrick J. Ryan Appointed Deputy Chief of U.S. Army Chaplains". The Bulletin of the Catholic Laymen's Association of Georgia. March 30, 1946. p. 12. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d "Father Patrick Ryan Promoted to Colonel". The Oklahoma Courier. February 5, 1944. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Alfsen, Erik (August 2, 2023). "Unsung Hero: Dogface chaplain recognized for service and sacrifice". U.S. Army. Archived from the original on October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Cardinal Presides At Historic Service In Liberated Rome". The Nebraska Register. June 18, 1944. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  9. ^ Kennedy, Edward (June 12, 1944). "10,000 Soldiers Attend Victory Mass in Rome". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
  10. ^ McNamara, Edward. "When a Bishop Doesn't Concelebrate at a Mass | EWTN". EWTN Global Catholic Television Network.
  11. ^ Ruff, Joe (August 16, 2023). "US Army infantry division honors the late Msgr. Patrick Ryan, World War II chaplain". The Catholic Spirit. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c "Chaplains' Chief Set For Chapel Ceremonies". The Anniston Star. February 23, 1958. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d "Priest Appointed Chaplains' Chief". The Tablet. March 27, 1954. pp. 1, 22. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  14. ^ Msgr. Patrick O'Connor (March 27, 1954). "Monsignor Ryan Visits Chaplains in Korea". The Tablet. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  15. ^ "New Head of Chaplains Learns of Appointment When on Korean Tour". The Nebraska Register. March 26, 1954. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  16. ^ "Army Swears In Chief Chaplain". The Salt Lake Tribune. May 2, 1954. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  17. ^ a b Healy, Paul (July 31, 1958). "Capital Circus". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  18. ^ "Reserve Has Urgent Need For Chaplains". The Advocate. May 15, 1954. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  19. ^ "A Soldier Priest Talks to Youth". The Catholic Missourian. March 14, 1965. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  20. ^ a b c "Msgr. Patrick Ryan Dies". The Washington Post. June 9, 1978. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  21. ^ "For God and Country" (PDF). The Oracle. Winter 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 12, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
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Military offices
Preceded by Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army
1946–1948 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army
1952–1954 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army
1954–1958 		Succeeded by
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