C. J. Ryan

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]

• Ryan, Christopher, ed. (1989). Religious Roles of the Papacy: Ideals and Realities, 1150–1300. Toronto: Pontifical Institute for Medieval Studies. ISBN 978-1459332966.
• Dante (1989). Ryan, Christopher (ed.). The Banquet. Saratoga, CA: Anma Libri. ISBN 978-0915838479.
• Ryan, Christopher (1998). The poetry of Michelangelo: an introduction. London: Athlone. ISBN 978-0485115291.
• Ryan, Christopher (2013). Took, John (ed.). Dante and Aquinas: a study of nature and grace in the Comedy. London: UCL Arts & Humanities Publications. ISBN 978-1909188037.
• Michelangelo, The Poetry. Translated and edited by Christopher Ryan. London: J M Dent, 1997. ISBN 978-0460878784.