After nearly four decades at the helm, Fr. Michael Ryan is retiring as pastor of Seattle’s St. James Cathedral. Ryan is a big reason why the city’s faith community has influenced life in a very secular city.
He will be replaced by Fr. Gary Lazzeroni. In a letter announcing the transition, Catholic Archbishop Paul Etienne described Lazzeroni as “a wonderful priest who will diligently and faithfully serve you and your parish family.”
“Father Gary is a good friend and I couldn’t be happier with the choice,” Ryan said in an email. Ryan will become pastor emeritus. St. James is now in a cluster parish arrangement with Christ Our Hope parish in downtown Seattle and Immaculate Conception parish in the Central Area.
Ryan has been an influential church voice, championing social justice and outreach by the Catholic Church. He is a thoroughly modern man with the personal style of an affable Irish clergyman.
He has bonded with deans of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral and Temple de Hirsch Sinai. The three congregations offered sanctuary to immigrants and refugees during the first Trump Administration.
The 1.46 miles between Sr. Mark’s and St. James has been scene of mass marches of the faithful in recent years. The marchers protested against both Gulf Wars as well as gun violence. After an assassin killed more than 50 people at an Orlando, Florida nightclub, with a largely gay and lesbian clientele, leaders of Seattle’s LGBTQ community read scripture passages from the pulpit at St. James. Another big march championed immigrant rights.
Ryan was ordained in Rome during the Second Vatican Council, which opened the church to other faiths and traditions. A statue/shrine to St. John XXIII, the pope who called the conclave, sits in a corner at St. James.
Ryan came to prominence as chancellor, effectively number two man in the Seattle Archdiocese under pastoral, pacifist Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen. Hunthausen was a holy innocent who needed schooling in Vatican politics. Ryan supplied it, allowing Hunthausen — with support from the pews — to stave off an attempt to strip the Archbishop of his authority.
The defense of Hunthausen probably cost Ryan the chance to rise in church hierarchy, but force of personality and knowledge of faith have made him a recognized national voice in Catholicism. He championed the ministry of Pope Francis, less so the authoritarian orthodoxy of Pope Benedict XVI.
Ryan is a powerful preacher. Some years back, in Paris, I attended a mass at Notre Dame Cathedral to commemorate the city’s liberation from Nazi occupation. Presiding was the cardinal-archbishop of Paris.
Back in Seattle, a week later, ‘went to mass at St. James. A substantially larger congregation turned out to hear Ryan. With America’s shortage of priests, his Sunday schedule has included four masses plus a benediction service.
The Ryan retirement takes effect on July 1. In addition to Lazzeroni, two fellow priests — Frs. Sylvester Chanda and Francis Thumbi — will become parochial vicars in service to St James, Immaculate Conception and Christ our Hope.
Ryan has seemed both tireless and ageless, from the pulpit, at the altar, and in refurbishing St. James. Etienne, in his announcement, takes note of Ryan’s work far beyond the cathedral.
As for Ryan, he reflected Saturday: “After nearly four decades as a pastor, this is a challenging moment for me. I had never allowed myself to imagine it but it had to happen sometime.”
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Father Mike Ryan has been a fearless leader and a blessing to the whole community!! We are very lucky to have had him!