John A. Ryan
Encyclopedia
Monsignor
John Augustine Ryan (1865–1945) was a leading moral theologian, priest, professor, author, and social justice advocate. Ryan lived during a decisive moment in the development of Catholic social teaching within the United States. The largest influx of immigrants in America’s history, the emancipation of American slaves, and the industrial revolution
had produced a new social climate in the early twentieth century, and the Church faced increasing pressure to take a stance on questions of social reform.
Ryan saw the social reform debate of the early twentieth century as essentially an argument between libertarian individualists and collectivists concerned with equality, and thus contended that an emphasis on human welfare framed in natural law theory provided the most promising means to combine conflicting concerns over individual and social welfare. Ryan’s influential response was the development of a Catholic critique of the American capitalist system that emphasized the existence of absolute natural human rights.
While Ryan identified primarily as a moral theologian, he also made important contributions to American political life and economic thought. He supported a number of social reforms that were eventually incorporated into the New Deal
, and have become elemental to the modern welfare state
. Ryan’s most well-known contribution to American economic thought was his argument for a minimum wage presented in his doctoral dissertation, A Living Wage.
Ryan recognized the importance of a “synergistic relation among scholarship, moral teaching, and political activism,” which led to his vigorous application of moral thinking to the political arena.
, to William Ryan and Maria[h] Luby. Raised in the Populist
tradition on a farm homesteaded by his Irish Catholic
parents alongside his ten younger siblings, Ryan’s childhood experience with the challenges faced by farmers informed his early investment in economic justice and the role of the Catholic Church in promoting social change.
Ryan’s interest in moral reflection on contemporary economic issues and empathy for the poor was further cultivated in his early teenage years when Ryan read Henry George
’s Progress and Poverty
. While Ryan later confessed to not fully understanding the book at the time, he cites his first reading of George’s work as the beginning of a life long commitment to questions of social justice.
. He graduated valedictorian of his class in 1892. Ryan was a member of the inaugural class at the St. Paul Seminary in 1894, which is now the School of Divinity of the University of St. Thomas
. Graduating in 1898, Ryan received his holy orders from Archbishop John Ireland and moved to Washington, DC, to pursue graduate studies at the Catholic University of America the same year. At the Catholic University of America, Ryan received his licentiate in literature in 1900 and his doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1906.
Ryan saw his own vocation as the teaching of moral theology and economic justice to the U.S. electorate, emphasizing in particular his influence on Catholic voters and politicians. While much of his instruction emerged from the numerous articles and pamphlets he wrote throughout his lifetime, Ryan also held official professorships. He taught moral theology at the St. Paul Seminary from 1902–1915, and then returned to Washington where he served as a professor at the Catholic University from 1915 until 1939, teaching graduate level courses in moral theology, industrial ethics and sociology. During his tenure at the Catholic University, Ryan also taught economics and social ethics at Trinity College in Washington, now known as Trinity Washington University
.
’s encyclical Rerum Novarum
in which he found Leo’s statement that all laborers had a right to adequate worldly goods in order to live in frugal comfort, and the state was obliged to guarantee that right.
In 1902, American Catholic Quarterly Review published Ryan's essay, "The Morality of the Aims and Methods of Labor Unions," a piece supportive of unions.
Ryan's licentiate
dissertation, "Some Ethical Aspects of Speculation," investigated the morality of speculation
. His Ph.D.
dissertation was an influential early economic and moral argument for minimum wage
legislation. It was published as A Living Wage in 1906. Ryan insisted in the text that all men had a right to a living wage
, adequate to support himself and his family. Always grounding his political thought in moral theology, Ryan argued that Rerum Novarum
converted the living wage “from an implicit to an explicit principle of Catholic ethics.”
Published in 1916, Ryan’s second major scholarly work was the book Distributive Justice: The Right and Wrong of Our Present Distribution of Wealth, in which he provided an examination of rent
from land, interest
on capital
, profits from enterprise
, and wages for labor in relation to moral
principles. As with A Living Wage, Ryan drew on both ethical and economic reasoning; he claimed that all four agents of production — the worker, entrepreneur
, capitalist, and landowner — had a claim to the finished product because each contributed an indispensable element to its production. Ryan further objected at a practical and moral level to both the Puritan industrial ethic
and the “gospel of consumption” that encouraged increased consumption through the production of new forms of demand, such as luxury
goods and services. Ryan again saw both these flawed economic views as the outcome of an historic separation between ethics
and economic life. Ryan based his own vision of economic progress in America on equitable wealth distribution, decreased working hours, and a guaranteed minimum wage
. Clear in Ryan’s economic thought was a disciplined commitment to both ethical and practical analysis of his country's economic problems.
While A Living Wage has achieved a higher degree of recognition, Ryan stated in his autobiography, “Distributive Justice is unquestionably the most important book I have written.”
In these early publications Ryan staked out an economic position that maintained the primacy of private property
but spurned overly acquisitive and unregulated free market capitalism as economically unhealthy and morally bankrupt. He would argue this economic philosophy for his entire life.
” or “conservative,” but eventually settled on “papalist” to describe his public position, meaning “an orthodox commitment to the Holy See
.” Ryan viewed the proper role of the state as the active promotion of the common good only to the extent that it cannot be realized through the family or voluntary associations. Ryan was among the earliest advocates of minimum wage laws in the United States.
’s administration. Yet, the text also involved a number of less successful reforms that defy popular interpretations of Ryan as a strictly liberal political thinker, such as a federal ban on the dissemination of information on birth control and rigid support for abortion laws. What is most evident in the “Program for Social Reconstruction” is Ryan’s systematic application of Catholic ethics to social reconstruction..
In 1923, Ryan initiated the Catholic Conference on Industrial Problems.
After teaching at the Catholic University, Ryan became head of the Social Action Department of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, a position that allowed him substantial opportunities to influence politicians in Washington. He was a noted supporter of the failed Child Labor Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution, despite opposition from the influential Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal William Henry O'Connell
.
Ryan also worked actively with the National Consumers’ League
, which attempted to encourage consumers to push for decent working conditions. In 1927, Ryan founded the Catholic Association for International Peace
.
Ryan was such a fervent supporter of the New Deal that he was nicknamed "Monsignor New Deal".
1n 1931, Ryan urged the federal government to develop a $5 billion public works campaign.
In 1933, the Roosevelt administration enlisted Ryan's assistance in mustering support among Catholic clerics for its NRA codes. In 1934, Ryan was elected to the three-person Industrial Appeals Board of the National Recovery Administration.
One of Ryan’s most controversial ventures into American politics was his national radio endorsement of Democratic Party
candidate Franklin Roosevelt when he ran for re-election as President in 1936. When the "Radio Priest", Father Charles E. Coughlin, turned vehemently against FDR and the New Deal
during the 1936 presidential campaign
, and encouraged his listeners to vote instead for William Lemke
of Coughlin's new Union Party
, Ryan countered with an overtly partisan political speech ("Roosevelt Safeguards America") broadcast on national radio on October 8, 1936, urging Catholics to repudiate Coughlin and support the New Deal and Roosevelt. Wary of the potential controversy his speech could arouse, he began the endorsement by stating, “I am making tonight what is liable to be called a political speech. It is not that. It is mainly a discussion of certain political events in the light of moral law.” Nevertheless, the endorsement led Ryan into open conflict with Coughlin, who gave Ryan the sarcastic sobriquet “The Right Reverend New Dealer." The speech also cost Ryan the confidence of Archbishop Michael J. Curley of Baltimore.
Yet Ryan was also a deeply respected moral theologian throughout his lifetime. With his position with the NCWC, he was authorized by the Bishops as their principal Catholic spokesman for social reform within the United States, and became the first Catholic priest to deliver the benediction at a presidential inauguration in 1937.
The John A. Ryan Institute for Catholic Social Thought at St. Thomas University
explores the relationship between the Catholic social tradition and business theory and practice by fostering a deeper integration of faith and work.
Monsignor
Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
John Augustine Ryan (1865–1945) was a leading moral theologian, priest, professor, author, and social justice advocate. Ryan lived during a decisive moment in the development of Catholic social teaching within the United States. The largest influx of immigrants in America’s history, the emancipation of American slaves, and the industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
had produced a new social climate in the early twentieth century, and the Church faced increasing pressure to take a stance on questions of social reform.
Ryan saw the social reform debate of the early twentieth century as essentially an argument between libertarian individualists and collectivists concerned with equality, and thus contended that an emphasis on human welfare framed in natural law theory provided the most promising means to combine conflicting concerns over individual and social welfare. Ryan’s influential response was the development of a Catholic critique of the American capitalist system that emphasized the existence of absolute natural human rights.
While Ryan identified primarily as a moral theologian, he also made important contributions to American political life and economic thought. He supported a number of social reforms that were eventually incorporated into the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
, and have become elemental to the modern welfare state
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
. Ryan’s most well-known contribution to American economic thought was his argument for a minimum wage presented in his doctoral dissertation, A Living Wage.
Ryan recognized the importance of a “synergistic relation among scholarship, moral teaching, and political activism,” which led to his vigorous application of moral thinking to the political arena.
Birth and early life
Ryan was born on May 25, 1869, in Vermillion (Dakota County), MinnesotaVermillion, Minnesota
Vermillion is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 419 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land. County Roads 62, 66, and 85 are three of the main routes in the community. U.S...
, to William Ryan and Maria[h] Luby. Raised in the Populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
tradition on a farm homesteaded by his Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
parents alongside his ten younger siblings, Ryan’s childhood experience with the challenges faced by farmers informed his early investment in economic justice and the role of the Catholic Church in promoting social change.
Ryan’s interest in moral reflection on contemporary economic issues and empathy for the poor was further cultivated in his early teenage years when Ryan read Henry George
Henry George
Henry George was an American writer, politician and political economist, who was the most influential proponent of the land value tax, also known as the "single tax" on land...
’s Progress and Poverty
Progress and Poverty
Progress and Poverty: An Inquiry into the Cause of Industrial Depressions and of Increase of Want with Increase of Wealth: The Remedy was written by Henry George in 1879...
. While Ryan later confessed to not fully understanding the book at the time, he cites his first reading of George’s work as the beginning of a life long commitment to questions of social justice.
Education and academic life
Ryan attended secondary school at the Christian Brothers School in 1887, and continued his studies at the St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, now named the University of St. ThomasUniversity of St. Thomas (Minnesota)
The University of St. Thomas is a private, Catholic, liberal arts, and archdiocesan university located in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States...
. He graduated valedictorian of his class in 1892. Ryan was a member of the inaugural class at the St. Paul Seminary in 1894, which is now the School of Divinity of the University of St. Thomas
University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)
The University of St. Thomas is a private, Catholic, liberal arts, and archdiocesan university located in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States...
. Graduating in 1898, Ryan received his holy orders from Archbishop John Ireland and moved to Washington, DC, to pursue graduate studies at the Catholic University of America the same year. At the Catholic University of America, Ryan received his licentiate in literature in 1900 and his doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1906.
Ryan saw his own vocation as the teaching of moral theology and economic justice to the U.S. electorate, emphasizing in particular his influence on Catholic voters and politicians. While much of his instruction emerged from the numerous articles and pamphlets he wrote throughout his lifetime, Ryan also held official professorships. He taught moral theology at the St. Paul Seminary from 1902–1915, and then returned to Washington where he served as a professor at the Catholic University from 1915 until 1939, teaching graduate level courses in moral theology, industrial ethics and sociology. During his tenure at the Catholic University, Ryan also taught economics and social ethics at Trinity College in Washington, now known as Trinity Washington University
Trinity Washington University
Trinity Washington University, founded in 1897 by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, is a Roman Catholic university located in Washington, D.C. across from Catholic University of America and the Dominican House of Studies...
.
Economic thought
Ryan viewed the separation of economic thought from religious and ethical rules as the root of practical economic problems faced by Americans in the early half of the twentieth century. While at St. Paul Seminary in 1894, Ryan read Pope Leo XIIIPope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
’s encyclical Rerum Novarum
Rerum Novarum
Rerum Novarum is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on May 15, 1891. It was an open letter, passed to all Catholic bishops, that addressed the condition of the working classes. The encyclical is entitled: “Rights and Duties of Capital and Labour”...
in which he found Leo’s statement that all laborers had a right to adequate worldly goods in order to live in frugal comfort, and the state was obliged to guarantee that right.
In 1902, American Catholic Quarterly Review published Ryan's essay, "The Morality of the Aims and Methods of Labor Unions," a piece supportive of unions.
Ryan's licentiate
Licentiate
Licentiate is the title of a person who holds an academic degree called a licence. The term may derive from the Latin licentia docendi, meaning permission to teach. The term may also derive from the Latin licentia ad practicandum, which signified someone who held a certificate of competence to...
dissertation, "Some Ethical Aspects of Speculation," investigated the morality of speculation
Speculation
In finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...
. His Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
dissertation was an influential early economic and moral argument for minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
legislation. It was published as A Living Wage in 1906. Ryan insisted in the text that all men had a right to a living wage
Living wage
In public policy, a living wage is the minimum hourly income necessary for a worker to meet basic needs . These needs include shelter and other incidentals such as clothing and nutrition...
, adequate to support himself and his family. Always grounding his political thought in moral theology, Ryan argued that Rerum Novarum
Rerum Novarum
Rerum Novarum is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on May 15, 1891. It was an open letter, passed to all Catholic bishops, that addressed the condition of the working classes. The encyclical is entitled: “Rights and Duties of Capital and Labour”...
converted the living wage “from an implicit to an explicit principle of Catholic ethics.”
Published in 1916, Ryan’s second major scholarly work was the book Distributive Justice: The Right and Wrong of Our Present Distribution of Wealth, in which he provided an examination of rent
Renting
Renting is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for all property charges regularly incurred by the ownership from landowners...
from land, interest
Interest
Interest is a fee paid by a borrower of assets to the owner as a form of compensation for the use of the assets. It is most commonly the price paid for the use of borrowed money, or money earned by deposited funds....
on capital
Capital (economics)
In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...
, profits from enterprise
Enterprise
Enterprise may refer to:-Economics and business:* A business* A company* Entrepreneurship, the practice of starting new organizations, particularly new businesses* Enterprise Architecture...
, and wages for labor in relation to moral
Moral
A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim...
principles. As with A Living Wage, Ryan drew on both ethical and economic reasoning; he claimed that all four agents of production — the worker, entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, capitalist, and landowner — had a claim to the finished product because each contributed an indispensable element to its production. Ryan further objected at a practical and moral level to both the Puritan industrial ethic
Protestant work ethic
The Protestant work ethic is a concept in sociology, economics and history, attributable to the work of Max Weber...
and the “gospel of consumption” that encouraged increased consumption through the production of new forms of demand, such as luxury
Luxury good
Luxury goods are products and services that are not considered essential and associated with affluence.The concept of luxury has been present in various forms since the beginning of civilization. Its role was just as important in ancient western and eastern empires as it is in modern societies...
goods and services. Ryan again saw both these flawed economic views as the outcome of an historic separation between ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
and economic life. Ryan based his own vision of economic progress in America on equitable wealth distribution, decreased working hours, and a guaranteed minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
. Clear in Ryan’s economic thought was a disciplined commitment to both ethical and practical analysis of his country's economic problems.
While A Living Wage has achieved a higher degree of recognition, Ryan stated in his autobiography, “Distributive Justice is unquestionably the most important book I have written.”
In these early publications Ryan staked out an economic position that maintained the primacy of private property
Private property
Private property is the right of persons and firms to obtain, own, control, employ, dispose of, and bequeath land, capital, and other forms of property. Private property is distinguishable from public property, which refers to assets owned by a state, community or government rather than by...
but spurned overly acquisitive and unregulated free market capitalism as economically unhealthy and morally bankrupt. He would argue this economic philosophy for his entire life.
Public life
Just as Ryan’s economic thought was guided by a commitment to moral theology, his political action was inextricably connected to his religious beliefs. Though Ryan was primarily an intellectual and moral theologian, his deep conviction that the church had a proper role to play in public affairs led him to maintain a consistent engagement in American politics throughout his lifetime. Ryan avoided political labels such as “liberalLiberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
” or “conservative,” but eventually settled on “papalist” to describe his public position, meaning “an orthodox commitment to the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
.” Ryan viewed the proper role of the state as the active promotion of the common good only to the extent that it cannot be realized through the family or voluntary associations. Ryan was among the earliest advocates of minimum wage laws in the United States.
Program for social reconstruction
Aside from his influential texts A Living Wage and Redistributive Justice, and a number of other political and economic pamphlets, Ryan authored the “Program for Social Reconstruction” in 1919, a text that was adopted by the Administrative Committee of the National Catholic War Council as a statement of their social and economic objectives and became the Bishops' Program of Social Reconstruction. A number of authors have cited the text as a blueprint for the New Deal legislation, though others have also stated that such connections have been exaggerated. However direct Ryan’s influence was on the New Deal, the text offered liberal social reforms that emphasized an active role for the state in promoting social justice, many of which were enacted during President Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
’s administration. Yet, the text also involved a number of less successful reforms that defy popular interpretations of Ryan as a strictly liberal political thinker, such as a federal ban on the dissemination of information on birth control and rigid support for abortion laws. What is most evident in the “Program for Social Reconstruction” is Ryan’s systematic application of Catholic ethics to social reconstruction..
Political activities
Beyond authoring political texts, Ryan also took a number of decisively political actions. While teaching at St. Paul Seminary, Ryan took an active interest in trade unions, promoting their cause to outside groups, addressing union gatherings, and helping to author and promote social legislation.In 1923, Ryan initiated the Catholic Conference on Industrial Problems.
After teaching at the Catholic University, Ryan became head of the Social Action Department of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, a position that allowed him substantial opportunities to influence politicians in Washington. He was a noted supporter of the failed Child Labor Amendment
Child Labor Amendment
The Child Labor Amendment is a proposed and still-pending amendment to the United States Constitution offered by Republican Ohio Congressman Israel Moore Foster on April 26, 1924, during the 68th Congress, in the form of House Joint Resolution No. 184....
to the U.S. Constitution, despite opposition from the influential Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal William Henry O'Connell
William Henry O'Connell
William Henry O'Connell was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1907 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1911.-Early life:...
.
Ryan also worked actively with the National Consumers’ League
National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is an American consumer organization. The National Consumers League is a private, nonprofit advocacy group representing consumers on marketplace and workplace issues....
, which attempted to encourage consumers to push for decent working conditions. In 1927, Ryan founded the Catholic Association for International Peace
Catholic Association for International Peace
The Catholic Association for International Peace was founded in 1927 by John A. Ryan. It based its opposition to war on the traditional just war doctrine.-Opposition to the Vietnam War :...
.
Ryan was such a fervent supporter of the New Deal that he was nicknamed "Monsignor New Deal".
1n 1931, Ryan urged the federal government to develop a $5 billion public works campaign.
In 1933, the Roosevelt administration enlisted Ryan's assistance in mustering support among Catholic clerics for its NRA codes. In 1934, Ryan was elected to the three-person Industrial Appeals Board of the National Recovery Administration.
One of Ryan’s most controversial ventures into American politics was his national radio endorsement of Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
candidate Franklin Roosevelt when he ran for re-election as President in 1936. When the "Radio Priest", Father Charles E. Coughlin, turned vehemently against FDR and the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
during the 1936 presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 1936
The United States presidential election of 1936 was the most lopsided presidential election in the history of the United States in terms of electoral votes. In terms of the popular vote, it was the third biggest victory since the election of 1820, which was not seriously contested.The election took...
, and encouraged his listeners to vote instead for William Lemke
William Lemke
William Frederick Lemke was a United States politician.-Life and career:He was born in Albany, Minnesota, and raised in Towner County, North Dakota, the son of Fred Lemke and Julia Anna Klier, pioneer farmers who had accumulated some of land...
of Coughlin's new Union Party
Union Party (United States)
The Union Party was a short-lived political party in the United States, formed in 1936 by a coalition of radio priest Father Charles Coughlin, old-age pension advocate Francis Townsend, and Gerald L. K. Smith, who had taken control of Huey Long's Share Our Wealth movement after Long's assassination...
, Ryan countered with an overtly partisan political speech ("Roosevelt Safeguards America") broadcast on national radio on October 8, 1936, urging Catholics to repudiate Coughlin and support the New Deal and Roosevelt. Wary of the potential controversy his speech could arouse, he began the endorsement by stating, “I am making tonight what is liable to be called a political speech. It is not that. It is mainly a discussion of certain political events in the light of moral law.” Nevertheless, the endorsement led Ryan into open conflict with Coughlin, who gave Ryan the sarcastic sobriquet “The Right Reverend New Dealer." The speech also cost Ryan the confidence of Archbishop Michael J. Curley of Baltimore.
Reception
During his lifetime, Ryan met fierce criticism for his economic and political thought. He was at times labeled a socialist for his endorsement of policies such as public housing, social security, unemployment insurance, and women’s rights in the work place, as well as his critique of unregulated free market capitalism. Refusing to prescribe to either a liberal or conservative political doctrine, instead choosing to support policies based on his theological beliefs, Ryan displeased both liberal and conservative politicians at times. Ryan’s overtly political acts also earned him disapproval within the Catholic Church.Yet Ryan was also a deeply respected moral theologian throughout his lifetime. With his position with the NCWC, he was authorized by the Bishops as their principal Catholic spokesman for social reform within the United States, and became the first Catholic priest to deliver the benediction at a presidential inauguration in 1937.
Death and legacy
After a short illness, Ryan died on September 16, 1945, in his home state of Minnesota. He is remembered today as an early and essential advocate for social reform in the first half of the twentieth century. He maintains a unique role in the history of the American Catholic tradition as a pioneer in the application of Catholic theology to questions of social justice in industrial society.The John A. Ryan Institute for Catholic Social Thought at St. Thomas University
St. Thomas University
Schools with the name St. Thomas University:*St. Thomas University *St. Thomas University *St. Thomas University, Japan...
explores the relationship between the Catholic social tradition and business theory and practice by fostering a deeper integration of faith and work.
Books and publications
- A Living Wage: Its Ethical and Economic Aspects. New York: Macmillan Co., 1906.
- Francisco Ferrer, Criminal Conspirator. St Louis: B Herder Book Co., 1911.
- Alleged Socialism of the Church Fathers. St Louis: B Herder Book Co., 1913.
- Socialism: Promise or Menace? New York: Macmillan Co., 1914 (a written debate with Morris HillquitMorris HillquitMorris Hillquit was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America and prominent labor lawyer in New York City's Lower East Side during the early 20th century.-Early years:...
). - Distributive Justice: The Right and Wrong of Our Present Distribution of Wealth. New York: Macmillan Co., 1916.
- The Church and Socialism and Other Essays. Washington: The University Press, 1919.
- The Church and Labor. New York: Macmillan Co., 1920. (with Joseph Husslein)
- A Living Wage: Its Ethical and Economic Aspects. New York: Macmillan Co., 1914. (revised edition)
- Social Reconstruction. New York: Macmillan Co., 1920.
- The State and the Church. New York: Macmillan Co., 1922. (with Moorhouse F.X. Millar)
- Declining Liberty and Other Papers. New York: Macmillan Co., 1927.
- Distributive Justice: The Right and Wrong of Our Present Distribution of Wealth. New York: Macmillan Co., 1927. (revised edition)
- The Catholic Church and the Citizen. New York: Macmillan Co., 1928.
- Questions of the Day. Boston: Stratford Co., 1931.
- A Better Economic Order. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1935.
- Seven Troubled Years, 1930-1936: A Collection of Papers on the Depression and on the Problems of Recovery and Reform. Ann Arbor: Edwards Brothers, 1937.
- Catholic Principles of Politics. New York: Macmillan Co., 1940. (with Francis J. Boland, this is a revised edition of The State and the Church)
- Social Doctrine in Action, a Personal History. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1941.
- Distributive Justice: The Right and Wrong of Our Present Distribution of Wealth. New York: Macmillan Co., 1942. (3rd edition, revised)
- The Norm of Morality Defined and Applied to Particular Actions. Ann Arbor: Edwards Brothers, 1944.
- The Church and Interest-Taking. St. Louis: B. Herder, 1910.
- A Minimum Wage By Legislation. St. Louis: Central Bureau of German Roman Central Verein, 1911.
- Social Reform on the Catholic Lines. Brooklyn: Volksverein, Greenpoint, 1912.
- The Living Wage. Catholic Social Guild Series. London: Catholic Truth Society, 1913.
- Social Reform on Catholic Lines. New York; Columbus Press, 1914. (revised edition)
- Minimum Wage Laws to Date. New York: Paulist Press, 1915.
- Family Limitation and the Church and Birth Control. New York: Paulist Press, 1916.
- Catholic Church vs. Socialism. New York: The Mail and Express Co., 1918.
- Problems of the Peace Conference. New York: American Press, 1918.
- Bishop's Program of Social Reconstruction. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1919.
- Catholic Doctrine on the Right of Self Government. New York: Paulist Press, 1919.
- Social Reconstruction, a General Review of the Problems and Survey of Remedies. Washington: National Catholic War Council, 1919.
- Capital and Labor. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Council, 1920.
- The Denver Tramway Strike of 1920. Denver: Denver Commission of Religious Forces, 1921. (with Edward T. Devin and John A. Lapp)
- The Labor Problem: What It Is, How to Solve It. New York: Paulist Press, 1921. (With Raymond McGowan, also published under the title of A Catechism of the Social Question)
- The Christian Doctrine of Property. New York: Paulist Press, 1923.
- The Supreme Court and the Minimum Wage. New York: Paulist Press, 1923.
- Christian Charity and the Plight of Europe. New York: Paulist Press, 1924.
- The Equal Rights Amendment in Relation to Protective Legislation for Women. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1929.
- The Proposed Child Labor Amendment. New York: National Child Labor Committee, 1924.
- A Question of Tactics for Catholic Citizens. 1924
- Industrial Democracy from a Catholic Viewpoint. Washington: Rossi-Bryn Co., 1925.
- Human Sterilization. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1927.
- Should a Catholic be President? The Smith-Marshall Controversy. New York: Calvert Publishing Corporation, 1927.
- The Ethics of Public Utility Valuation. Washington: National Popular Government League, 1928.
- International Ethics. Washington: Catholic Association for International Peace, 1928. (with the Ethics Committee)
- Prohibition Today and Tomorrow. Washington: Catholic Charities Review, 1928.
- Supreme Court and the Minimum Wage. New York: Paulist Press, 1928.
- Prohibition and Civic Loyalty. Washington: (self-published), 1929.
- Unemployment. Washington. National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1929.
- The Vatican-Italian Accord. New York: Foreign Policy Association, 1929. (with Count Carlo Sforza and Charles C. Marshall)
- Moral Aspects of Sterilization. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1930.
- Prohibition, Yes or No? New York: Paulist Press, 1930.
- Capital and Labor. New York: Paulist Press, 1931.
- Moral Factors in Economic Life. Washington: National Council of Catholic Men, 1931. (with Francis J. Haas)
- Catholic Principles and the Present Crises. Washington: Catholic Conference on Industrial Problems, 1932.
- Radical Pronouncements of Popes Leo XIII and Pius XI. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1932.
- Some Timely Commentaries on a Great Encyclical. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1932.
- Attitude of the Church Toward Public Ownership. New York: Public Ownership League, 1932.
- The Catholic Teaching on Our Industrial System. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1934.
- International Economic Life. Washington: Catholic Association for International Peace, 1934. (with Parker T. Moom and Raymond A. McGowan)
- Organized Social Justice. New York: Paulist Press, 1934.
- Shall the NRA Be Scrapped? Washington: Catholic Conference on Industrial Problems, 1934.
- Social Justice in the 1935 Congress. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1935.
- Human Sterilization. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1936.
- Message of the Encyclicals for America Today. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1936.
- Roosevelt Safeguards America. New York: Democratic National Committee, 1936.
- The Constitution and Catholic Industrial Teaching. New York: Paulist Press, 1937.
- The Church, the State and Unemployment. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1938.
- The Present Business Recession. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1938.
- Relation of Catholicism to Fascism, Communism, and Democracy. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1938.
- Bishop's Program of Social Reconstruction, a General Review of the Problems and Survey for Social Reconstruction. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1939.
- Citizen, the Church, and the State. New York: Paulist Press, 1939.
- Testimonial Dinner. Washington: Catholic Conference on Industrial Problems, 1939.
- Can Unemployment Be Ended? Washington: American Association for Economic Freedom, 1940.
- Defense for America. New York: Macmillan, 1940.
- Obligation of Catholics to Promote Peace. Washington: Catholic Association of International Peace, 1940.
- Report of the Interfaith Conference on Unemployment. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1940.
- The Right and Wrong of War. Washington: (privately published), 1940.
- American Democracy vs. Racism, Communism. New York Paulist Press, 1941.
- The Enemy is Hitler. South Bend, Indiana: Fight For Freedom Committee, 1941.
- The World Society, a Joint Report. New York: Paulist Press, 1941.
- International Post War Reconstruction. Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1942.
- Original Sin and Human Misery. New York: Paulist Press, 1942.
- A Suggested Limitation of Capitalist Property. Dublin: Catholic Truth Society of Ireland, 1946.
Biographies and publications on John A. Ryan
- Abell, Aaron I. "Msgr. John A. Ryan: An Historical Appreciation." Review of Politics III (January 1946), 128-134.
- Andelson, Robert V. "Msgr. John A. Ryan's Critique of Henry George." American Journal of Economics and Sociology 1974 33 (3): 273-286.
- Beckley, Harlan. Passion for Justice: Retrieving the Legacies of Walter Rauschenbusch, John A. Ryan, and Reinhold Niebuhr. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992.
- Bender, Reginald George. "The Doctrine of Private Property in the Writings of Monsignor John A. Ryan." Ph.D. diss., Washington: Catholic University of America, 1974.
- Betten, Neil. "John A. Ryan and the Social Action Department." Thought 1971 46 (181): 227-246.
- Betten, Neil."Social Catholicism and the Emergence of Catholic Radicalism in America." Journal of Human Relations 1970 18 (1): 710-727.
- Broderick, Francis L. Right Reverend New Dealer: John A. Ryan. New York: Macmillan Co., 1963.
- Broderick, Francis L. "The Encyclicals and Social Action: Is John A. Ryan Typical?" Catholic Historical Review 1969 55 (1): 1?6.
- Broderick, Francis L. ed. "Liberalism And The Mexican Crises of 1927: A Debate Between Norman Thomas and John A. Ryan." Catholic Historical Review 1959 45 (3): 309-326.
- Gearty, Patrick W. The Economic Thought of Monsignor John A. Ryan. Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1952.
- Gouldrick, John William. "John A. Ryan's Theory of the State." Ph.D. Diss., Washington: Catholic University of America, 1979.
- Higgins, George G. "The Underconsumption Theory in the Writings of Monsignor John A. Ryan," MA Thesis, The Catholic University of America, 1942.
- Hunnicutt, Benjamin K. "Monsignor John A. Ryan and the Shorter Hours of Labor: A Forgotten Vision of "Genuine" Progress." Catholic Historical Review 1983 69 (3): 384-402.
- Lavey, Patrick Bernard. "William J. Kerby, John A. Ryan, and the Awakening of the Twentieth-Century American Catholic Social Conscience, 1899-1919." Ph.D. Diss., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 1986.
- McGill, Theodora E. "A Bio-Bibliography of Monsignor John A. Ryan." MA Thesis, Washington, Catholic University of America, 1952.
- McShane, Joseph M. "Sufficiently Radical": Catholicism, Progressivism, and the Bishops' Program of 1919. Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1986.
- Meagher, Timothy, John Shepherd, and Joseph Turrini. "Laboring For Justice: Archival Resources for the Study of George Higgins and Catholic Social Action at the Archives of the Catholic University of America." U.S. Catholic Historian 2001 19 (4): 51-56.
- Medhurst, Martin J. "Argument and Role: Monsignor John A. Ryan on Social Justice." Western Journal of Speech Communication 1988 52 (1):75-90.
- Miscamble, Wilson D. "The Limits of American Catholic Antifascism: The Case of John A. Ryan." Church History 1990 59 (4): 523-538.
- Preston, Robert M. "The Christian Moralist as Scientific Reformer: John A. Ryan's Early Years." Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia 1970 81 (1): 27-41.
- Purcell, Richard J. "John A. Ryan, Prophet of Social Justice." Studies XXXV (June 1946), 153-174.
- Ryan, Leo. "American Protestant and Catholic Social Concerns Circa 1890 and the Ely-Ryan Relationship." Review Of Social Economy 49 (4): 514-531.
- Smylie, James H.James H. SmylieJames H. Smylie is Emeritus Professor of Church History at Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education and author of books on American church history and presbyterianism.-Career:...
"The Roman Catholic Church, the State, and Al Smith." Church History 1960 29 (4): 321-343.
Memorials
- John A. Ryan Institute for Catholic Social Thought at Center for Catholic Studies (University of St. Thomas)Center for Catholic Studies (University of St. Thomas)Dedicated to the integration of faith and reason, the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas , in St. Paul, Minnesota, hosts undergraduate and graduate degree programs, two research institutes: the John A. Ryan Institute for Catholic Social Thought and the Terrence J...
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