Longtime Arizona church lobbyist, advocate for poor dies

Published: 2006-01-04

PHOENIX (CNS) -- Msgr. Edward Ryle, the longtime head of the Arizona Catholic Conference who was devoted to seeking social justice and encouraging ecumenism, died Dec. 28 at age 75 after a series of health complications. Msgr. Ryle, referred to by some as "God's lobbyist," served for 19 years as director of the office that monitors public policy for the bishops of the state's three dioceses. His reputation extended far beyond his state, and Catholic Charities USA honored him for his work in 2005. A native of Chicago who was ordained in 1956 for the Diocese of Tucson, Msgr. Ryle directed Catholic Charities in the 1960s for the diocese, which at the time included the entire state of Arizona. He went on to teach in the National Catholic School of Social Service at The Catholic University of America in Washington, and to serve as dean of the Graduate School of Social Work at Marywood University in Scranton, Pa., from 1977 to 1984. He returned to Arizona to run the state Catholic conference, the post from which he retired in 2003.

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