News Scrapbook 1982-1984
Co& Ange s fflimes VIEW Action A Married Man's Painful Path to ~atholic Priesthood
LA JOLLA LIGHT FEB 2 t 1983 Breakfast seminar series planned The University of San Village Inn. The La
assistant professor of in- formation management systems. April 8 - "Profiles of Successful Managers," Tom Baker, Ph.D., adjunct faculty lecturer, economics. April 15 - "How to Teach Your Subor- dinates to Love the Job They May Hate," James Evans, Ph.D., associate professor of business and govern- ment. April 22 - "The Art of Managing People," Phillip Hunsaker, D.8.A., professor of management. "UPDATE" is spon- sored by the USD School of Business Ad- ministration and Conti- nuing Education.
Inn
Jolla Village schedule follows:
Diego's expanded "UP- DATE" Breakfast Seminar series begins its spring series on March 4 and will be held again in La Jolla at the La Jolla Village Inn from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Registration is $140 for the eight-session series; $20 for single ses- sions. Each seminar in- cludes a continental breakfast, presentation and materials. For in- formation and reserva- tions, telephone 293-4585. "UPDATE" is times each year and focuses on topics of concern to ousiness and community leaders. Business per- sons are provided an op- portunity to interact with each other, as well as with the university's business faculty, and to learn of recent developments in the business environment. "UPDATE" is held at two locations; the University Club of San Diego and the La Jolla presented two
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March 4- "Manage- ment of Innovation and Technology, ' Gary Whitney, Ph.D., associate professor of management. March 11 - "Up Your Productivity," Robert Johnson, Ph.D., associate professor of economics. March 18 "Toughening-Up in a Turbulent Economy," Fred Bahr, D.B.A., pro- fessor of management. March 25 - "The Listening Game - Old Ways vs. New Techni- ques," Robert Arnold, Ph.D., adjunct faculty lecturer, management. April I - "Me and My Micro," Eugene Rathswohl, Ph.D.,
celebrate. But we knew absolutely no Catholics we could invite. All our friends were Episcopalian." That sense of joy was a long time in coming. Inwardly, the Rylands had fought the decision for a long time. The realization that, for them, the Catholic church was the one true church was, in the beginning, a pure,y intellectual discovery. By the time the conversion was complete, they had resolved the problem internally. But all of their friends, and the shared history of the past, was left behind-with another faith. Therefore, any joy they felt was, at first, bittersweet. No Desire to Convert All Ryland explains, his conver- sion marked the end of a long crisis of consdence, one that initially left him "very downcast," be- cause-and he offered this in a whisper-"! had no desire to be Roman Catholic. None whatsoever. "My whole cereer, my friends, my whole life-it was all in the Episco- pal church." Thus, Ryland, who has taught at the University of San Diego since 1969, is sometimes asked, Why? Why was it necessary to leave behind a community of friends, a promising career in one faith and strike out in a new and uncharted direction' He said the answer was in his many years of soul-searching cou- pled with denial. And he freely admits that "sorrow" was the uni- versal reaction of Episcopal fnends, mixed with grumbles of disagree- ment. "Over a period of 16 years," he sa.1d, "dating back to a time befo my ordination (as an EpiscopaJ priest), my wife and I gradually realized Christ had established one church-the Catholic church-and, because we were Christians. we had Please see PRIEST, P re 6,
USD Teacher and Ex-Episcopal Priest Fulfills a Dream
It is ea8fer for a camel to 110 through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdDm of God. -Matthew 19:24 By MIKE GRANBERRY, Timu Staff Writer SAN DIEGO - Ray Ryland is not a wealthy man, at least in an economic sense. But he can sympa- thize with the plight of the camel in passing through a space as small as the eye of a needle. The eye of Ryland's needle-the fulfillment of a dream-was becom- ing a priest in the Catholic church. It was a long and often arduous pro- cess, one marked by indecision and anguish. In the end it proved-by almost any standard-an incredible journey. Ryland, 61, is married and the father of five children. Celibacy is something he's read about, never practiced. Furthermore, Ryland-who last Saturday was ordained as a priest -was not born into the faith, as were most of his new colleagues. For 13 years, until 1963, he had been an Episcopal priest. But he and his wife were born and grew up, not as Episcopalians, but as followers_ of the Disciples of Christ (the Chns- tian church), in what Ryland calls the "Bible Belt" of Oklahoma and Texas. Ryland's decision to enter the Catholic church becomes even more poignant when he reveals what happened on the afternoon that he and his wife joined. "On the day we were received ( m June of 1963)," he said, "we were so happy, 10 joyful. We wanted to
SD BUSINESS NEWS
FE8 2 8 \983
l)A VE GA Los Angel,. Tlm
DAILY TRANSCRIPT FEB :! 4 1983 USD Offers Seminars: Me and My Micro The tenth series of Update Breakfast Seminars, sponsored by the University of San Diego School of Business Administration and Continuing Education, will present eight consecutive Friday morning seminars from 7:30-9 a.m.. begin- ning Mar. 4 and continuing through Apr. 22. The spring series of business seminars will be held at two locations, The University Club of San Diego and the La Jolla Village Inn. Seminar topics include the listening game - old ways versus new techniques; the art of managing · eople; how to teach your subor- dinates to love the job they may hate; profiles of successful managers; toughening up in a turbulent economy; me and my micro; up your productivity; and management of innovation and technology. Registration for the entire series is $140; single sessions are $20 each. DAILY TRANSCRIPT FEB 2 8 1983 • • • A $4.5 million gift the University of San Diego was an- nounced Friday by the Olin Foun• ·dation. The funds are to be used to build and equip a 46,000-square-foot building for USD's school of business administration. Expected to be completed for use in the fall semester, 1984, the building will replace a much smaller structure and free classrooms elsewhere on campus. USD has about 1,200 un- dergraduates and 285 graduate students in its business school. to
p rt V /Thursday, February 17, 1983 J EST: Fulftllment of Dream for Ex-Episcopalian
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'Over aperiodof JS years ... my wifeandl gradually realized Christhad establishedone church-the Catholic church -and, because we were Christians, we had to enter that church.'
sation by saying, "The response of the church was the rule of celibacy is the rule-that's not in question at all.' My interpretation is that If there had been any doubt in any- one's mind about the rule of celiba- cy the dispensations would not have been issued. "The rule of celibacy }is so well est.ab ished that the church made these exceptions-but they're ex- ceptions only. This is not the open- ing wedge for optional celibacy; it's just an exception. "She (the church) has made exceptions in Europe, in Holland and Germany and Denmark, in Australia, and now in the United States. (In this country, Ryland's is the fourth such exception granted since 1980. )" Ryland said he had been praying for a Catholic priesthood since his conversion more than 20 years ago; a conversion, he noted, that marked the beginning of a life "that simply fell into place" after a long period or theological examination. In explaining h18 conversion, he hastened to add that he didn't believe the Catholic church was the only church but the only one that answers the problem of "doctrinal authonty.'' He said the Catholic church rec- Please see PRIEST, Page 7
notion Apptled Of course, said Richard Duncan- son, secretary to Leo Maher, the Catholic bl.Shop of San Diego, that tuation didn t apply to Ryland. But the dispensation did. In his case, it allows for a waiver on celibacy as 1 g his wife 1s alive. Should she e. he would not be allowed to marry and would be required to mam ce 1bate until his own death. Ryland elaborated on the dispen-
The Rev. Ray Ryland
J Thursday,
PRIEST: Married Man Takes An~ished Path to Priesthood
C.atla .a from Ith Pap ognize • other denominations a1 having "churchly reality" but is the only church that can claim to have been established by Chri.at hlmlelf. "By what criterion do we deter- mine authentic Chriatianity? Ry- land asked. "The Oxford Encyclo• pedia of World Chri1Uanity, published in 1982, clalma there are more than 28,000 recognizable de- moninationa of Christiana, all of them contradicting one another-in aome instances, in very basic mat• ter. Dectrlul C.Dfualoa "The question Is, Is this where Chri.at left us? My wife and I assumed Cod knew what he was doing when he redeemed the world In Christ and throUJh Christ, ap- pointed the apoetles to be his suc- ceaaora. We couldn't imagine the doctrinal confusion that character- ized Christendom u being some- thing that had taken Cod by sur- prise. We knew that if Cod doesn't make some provilion·for the truth getting throUJh-if rou just leave it up to hwnan being • -there's goinf to be disagreement and contradic• tion.'' All 28,000 demoninaliona agree, Ryland aalcl; that 80fflehow the- truth will prevail with most of the Protettant onet relying on the Bible u the final arbiter.
handful of conservative Prostestant spokesmen publicly challenged the priest at a nearby Catholic church to let them search the premises of his house of worship for fire- arms-their response to the debate swirling around Catholicism during the presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy. One of his closest friends, a surgeon in Alaska, told him recently he grew up believing that the Catholic church in his small Okla- homa town stored its arsenal of guns on the third noor of the rectory. Ryland said "such amazingly widespread prejudice" affects more than just the minds of small-town citizens. He talks about the "misin- formation" of some of his postgrad- uate theology professors, including the noted Paul Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr. "l was told,'' he said, "that Catho- lics actually believe-and the church teaches-that when the priest offers the holy sacrifice he is in fact repeating what happened on Calvary. Not true. "I wu told that Roman Catholics try to cover up the Second Com- mandment prohibiting the worship of graven images. "l was taught, especially by Rein- hold Niebuhr, that the church is demontcally arrogant in cla1ming to
stand above the word of God. "He (Niebuhr) said, again and again, that the Catholic church claims to stand above the word of God, is superior to the word of God. He calls this a demonic pretension. "The church was appointed to be the custodian of the word and to interpret the word, but in no way is in command or the word of God." Nlebabr Teaeblnr But Ryland, who will continue teaching religious studies at USD while serving as an assistant to the pastor of Saint Mary Magdalene Church, said he "swallowed whole" the teachings of Niebuhr and Til- lich. "Finally I come to the growing realization," he said, "that some- thing was wrong within the con- fines of non-Roman Catholic de- moninations. Given the radical contradictions within them and wondering, 'ls this all there is?' I realized no one could know the truth at key points. "The question (of his conversion) kept popping up, and I kept sup- pressing it.'' He looked down for a moment, then managed a slight smile. "Either it took the Holy Spint a long time, or the Rylands are awful- ly slow learners.''
"But the problem is, you have the Bible and all of these confiicting interpretations and who's to say who's right?" He referred to Acts 15, where it ii noted that circa 50 A.D., about 15 years after Jesus' death, the church wu "split wide open" over the issue of whether Gentiles had to become Jews to then become Christians. Crisis for Chriatianity "Had that not been resolved," he aald, "there would obvloUlly have been a continuous proliferation of sectarian groups, and Chriatianity would have been effectively de- stroyed. ''The problem was resolved rath- er simply by taking it to the apoetles (who formed the Catholic church). Their decision was iL" However, it took Ryland the first -CO years of his life to come to the conviction that the Catholic church wu the one Jesus and the apoetles had intended for "all mankind." "Unfortunately," he said, para- phrasing G.K. Chesterton, "you can't put the Bible on the witness stand, ask It questions and expect to get answers. "I thought the Episcopal church bad the anawer to this problem. I bold great and deep Jove for the An,elican tradition 'Ind ltl very special qualities, but over the years I leamedthe lllllile problem exists within Anglicanism that eXiata within the Protestant faiths. So I
began to Investigate other poaibW- ties." Hil final decision did not leave him feeling embittered at the Epis- copal church, he 88id. Quite the· contrary. "As an Anglo-Catholic (another term for Episcopalian) I had tried to make her over into a carbon copy of the Catholic church," Ryland aald. "The Anglo-Catholics do that. "Once, I simply 88id, 'No, ahe'a not Catholic, she'I beautiful in her 'Th.is is not the opening
EVENING TRIBUNE
FEB 2 S 198l
READER
The "Update" Breakfast
I t..B 2 -t 1383
wedge/oroptional celibacy; it's just an exception.'
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Seminar series, sponsored by the University of San Diego School of Business Administration and Contin- uing Education, will be from 7:30 to 9 a.m. each Fri- . day in March and April at two locations. This week's topics are "The Listening Game - Old Ways vs. New Techniques" in the Univer- sity Club, 1333 7th Ave., and "Management of Innovation and Technology" in the La Jolla Village Inn. Registra- tion is $140 for the entire series or $20 for single ses- sions. To register, call 293- 4585.
"Nagare," an exh1b1tion of Japanese wood-hlock prints, will remain on view through March 17, FounJersGallery, USO. 291-6480.
own way, but she'• Protestant, she's limited,' . . . well, then I wu fine," During their period of lntrospec• tion, the questions he and his wife raised "ate on us for months,'' Ryland said, "and we were forced against our will-no, I should say our inclmat~-to look at Rome." Will played a part, however, beca1.11e Ryland grew up in an area of Okalahoma not known for lta tolerance of CathOlicllm, Incident in Oklahoma He remembers the Ume when a.
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