Nenagh priest for sainthood?

A PRIEST born in Nenagh in the 19th Century is among those being considered by The Vatican as a possible candidate for sainthood.

Fr Patrick Ryan, who was born in the town in 1844, ministered in the US in the Diocese of Knoxville in Tennessee following his emigration from his native town after The Great Famine.

According to a report in the Irish Catholic newspaper, Fr Ryan, who died in 1878 at the age of just 32, is being investigated under Pope Francis’ new category for sainthood entitled, ‘Offer of Life’.

Fr Ryan, who grew up in New York, offered himself for service in the then Diocese of Nashville and was ordained in 1869. In 1872 he was appointed Pastor of Ss Peter and Paul Parish in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“The new Pastor faced many problems in the quickly growing city recovering from the American Civil War,” the Irish Catholic reports.

The piece adds: “The parish was large, consisting of the town of Chatanooga and most of south-western Tennessee. However, Fr Ryan was zealous, athletic and apostolic; he impressed upon his parishoners the importance of being Cathloics in deed as well as in name.

“His efforts bore fruit. He enlarged the parish church, built a school and brought a religious congregation into the parish to widen the scope of pastoral service.

“In September 1878 Yellow Fever struck Chattanooga and within a few days it was epidemic. While most of the inhabitants fled the town, Fr Ryan was among the few that remained.

“Turning the parish school into a hospital, he was in the frontline, tirelessly caring for those suffering and dying from the fever. He was known to have gone to the worst infected parts of the city seeking out the sick.

“Aware of the risks he was taking, as a priest Fr Ryan understood he had to reach out to the most afflicted, bringing them the comfort of Christ and prepare those who were dying to meet their God.

“On September 26, he caught the fever himself; two days later he was dead.”

The newspaper reports that Fr Ryan’s cause for canonisation was opened in June 2016. The report said his reputation for selfless service of the sick and his “heroic sacrifice” was “a potent memory” among Catholics in Tennessee.