C. J. Ryan | |
---|---|
Born | Christopher John Ryan 31 October 1943
Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, Scotland |
Died | 20 February 2004
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England | (aged 60)
Nationality | Scottish |
Occupation(s) | Priest and scholar |
Title | Professor of Italian |
Spouse |
Henrietta (
m. 1987) |
Children | Three |
Academic background | |
Education | St Mary's College, Blairs |
Alma mater | |
Thesis | The Theme of Free Will in Dante's Minor Works, with Particular Reference to Aspects of the Cultural Background (1977) |
Doctoral advisor | Fr Kenelm Foster OP |
Academic work | |
Discipline | |
Sub-discipline | |
Institutions | |
Ecclesiastical career | |
Religion | Christianity |
Church |
Roman Catholic Church (to 1986) Church of England (from 1986) |
Ordained | 1968 (priest) |
Christopher John Ryan (31 October 1943 – 20 February 2004) was a Scottish priest and scholar of Italian studies. His academic interests included Dante, Thomas Aquinas, and Michelangelo. [1] He was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church between 1968 and 1986, before being received into the Church of England where he served as a priest from 1987 until his death. [2] [3]
Ryan was born on 31 October 1943 in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. [1] [2] He was the youngest of seven children of a devout Roman Catholic family. [1] [4] He was educated at St Mary's College, Blairs, a minor seminary near Aberdeen. [2] In 1962, he matriculated into the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome to continue his studies and into the Pontifical Scots College to train for Holy Orders. [1] [3] He graduated from the Pontifical Gregorian University with a Licentiate of Philosophy (PhL) degree in 1965 and a Licentiate of Sacred Theology (STL) in 1969. [3]
After finishing his training in Rome, Ryan returned to Scotland to study Italian and politics at the University of Glasgow. [2] He graduated with a first class undergraduate Master of Arts (MA Hons) degree in 1972. [1] [3] He then moved to the University of Cambridge where he studied for a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree under the supervision of Fr Kenelm Foster OP at St Edmund's College. [1] [4] His doctoral thesis, titled 'The Theme of Free Will in Dante's Minor Works, with Particular Reference to Aspects of the Cultural Background', was completed in 1977. [5]
Ryan translated the poetry of Michelangelo into English, publishing a volume with Dent in 1997 and a volume with Everyman Poetry in 1998. In 2019, three of Ryan's translations were used as part of the 'Bill Viola / Michelangelo' exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
In 1968, Ryan was ordained into the Roman Catholic Church as a deacon and then as a priest. [2] [3] Rather than enter parish ministry, he was granted permission to continue his academic studies. [2] In 1975, after completing an additional degree and while still working towards his doctorate, he was appointed Dean of St Edmund's College, Cambridge. [1] [4] As dean, he was a Fellow of the college and the priest of its college chapel; St Edmund's is unique in that it is the only college of the University of Cambridge with a Roman Catholic chapel. [6] After five years, in 1981, he moved to Canada where he became a Fellow in Western Theology at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies of the University of Toronto. [1] [3] There, he taught courses on Dante, Medieval thought, and Medieval history. [2]
It was during his time in Canada that Ryan began to question "many aspects of Roman Catholic teaching" including Papal infallibility. [1] [7] In 1986, he left the Roman Catholic Church, having flown to Scotland to inform his family face to face. [1] That year, he was received into the Church of England by Peter Walker, the then Bishop of Ely. [2]
In 1987, Ryan moved from Canada to England. [3] [4] From 1987 to 1990, he held a licence to officiate in the Diocese of Ely; [3] this allowed him to serve as an Anglican priest within the diocese. [1] From 1987 to 1988, he held the Naden Research Studentship in Theology at St John's College, Cambridge. [2] [3] From 1988 to 1990, he was a lecturer in Italian at the University of Cambridge. [3]
In January 1991, Ryan moved to the University of Sussex where he had been appointed a senior lecturer in Italian. [4] From 1991 to 2002, he also held Permission to Officiate in the Diocese of Oxford. [3] He was appointed Professor of Italian in 1994. [2] During this time, he served as chairman of the Italian group with the School of European Studies. [4] In 2002, he left Sussex and was appointed professor emeritus. [2]
In 2002, Ryan returned to the University of Cambridge to take up the appointment of Dean of College of King's College, Cambridge. [2] As such, he "was the first former Roman Catholic priest to be appointed dean of the college since Tudor times". [7] This also made him 'the first priest since the Reformation to have been Dean of both a Roman Catholic college and an Anglican college in the same university'. [8] From 2002, he once more held a licence to officiate in the Diocese of Ely. [3]
Ryan died on 20 February 2004, aged 60, after a short illness. [4]
In 1987, Ryan married Henrietta McBurney during a service at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. [1] [4] For most of their marriage, they lived at Windsor Castle, where Henrietta worked as Deputy Curator of the Royal Collection of Prints and Drawings. [1] [2] They had three children together: a daughter and two sons. [1]