Assignment Record – Rev. Cornelius J. Ryan, c.s.c.

Summary of Case: A Holy Cross priest of the Indiana Province ordained in 1966, Ryan lived and worked in Africa until 1999, when he returned to Indiana. In June 2013 Ryan was serving as administrator of a Fort Wayne parish when he was removed due to what his superior deemed a "credible" allegation of the sexual abuse of a boy twenty years earlier in Africa. Ryan had been sent to the Ft. Wayne parish in December 2011, after the parish's previous pastor was removed due to allegations of child sexual abuse.

Ordained: 1966


   

Start Stop Parish/Assignment Town/Accusations State/Country Position Notes

1966

Fort Portal bishop was Vincent Joseph McCauley, c.s.c. (1961-1972), followed by Serapio Bwemi Magambo (1972-1991), and Paul Lokiru Kalanda (1991-2003).

1999  

Fort Portal

• Ryan was accused in 2013 of the sexual abuse of a young male in Uganda twenty years previously. The order's superior said the accusation was "credible".

Uganda/East Africa   Ryan is known to have coached high school soccer.

1999

Nairobi archbishop was Raphael S. Ndingi Mwana’a Nzeki (1997-2007).

2002 Holy Cross Dandora Nairobi/Kenya assistant Holy Cross was a large urban parish.

2002

Ft. Wayne-South Bend bishop was John Michael D'Arcy (1985-2009), followed by Kevin Carl Rhoades (2009-).

2011 St. Therese, Little Flower South Bend IN 2/3, 2/2, 1/2 St. Therese, Little Flower had a religious education program with 300-152 students.
2011 Dec. 2011 Our Lady of Fatima House Notre Dame IN    
Dec. 2011 2013 St. Joseph-Hessen Castle Ft. Wayne IN Administrator Ryan was removed from St. Joseph's June 10, 2013 after an accusation emerged that he had sexually abused a boy in Africa twenty years previously. Ryan had been sent to St. Joseph's in December 2011 after its then pastor was removed due to sexual abuse allegations.

 

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1967-2012)

• Local priest removed after 1990s sex abuse allegations, Rosa Salter Rodriguez, The Journal Gazette, June 20, 2013
• Priest accused of abuse served in South Bend, WSBT.com, June 20, 2013
• Rhoades plans Mass after priest’s ouster, by Rosa Salter Rodriguez, The Journal Gazette, June 21, 2013
• Holy Cross International Justice Office newsletter

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Ryan's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on June 22, 2013