Nobody should forget Dr Paddy Ryan, MSC priest, philosopher and controversialist

Reading James Franklin's "Catholic Thought and Catholic Action: Dr Paddy Ryan MSC", Chapter Two of his book Catholic Values and Australian Realities and Dr Caughan's article in Annals Australasia took my mind back through the years to the 1950s. I have clear memories of Dr Ryan's name coming up regularly in my father's conversations with friends and acquaintances from the local parish. I remember him telling us (his kids) about the famous debate with Communist leader Edgar Ross in Sydney Stadium in which Dr Ryan wiped the floor with him. My father's eyes would sparkle with a mixture of glee and satisfaction when he repeated this story - as he did often.

It was always "Dr Ryan", never Paddy Ryan. He had the highest respect for Dr Ryan. It was an impudence of the highest order for the ordinary person to address so great a champion of the Church and Australia, indeed, of the wonderful life Australians enjoyed in such a familiar manner. "You can be sure," he often said, nodding grimly, "if the communists ever take over Australia the first man they'll go for is Dr Ryan. They know who their foe is."

I can't talk for my brothers and sisters, but I always took serious notice of my father's frequent extemporisations on the political and moral condition of Australian society, and the threats looming over it for which we always had to be on our guard. Even in primary school. I remember repeating my father's warning to the other kids about the dire lot that awaited our champion, Dr Ryan, if those mongrels from Russia had their way with us.

Perhaps I speak a little lightly about it now. That's because of the endearing memories of my father who spoke in the ingenuous Catholic vernacular of the times. I still believe he was right in his judgements. I would express it otherwise now, more in the terms that Sir Robert Menzies used. I had a good education - postgraduate level. I can do that. My father, a man of great principle - I have not met a more principled man - was not an educated man. He came from a poor background - genteel Catholic poverty. He and my mother cooperated to give six children and one foster child a good education. All have reached an educational and professional level that was undreamt of to him as a child.

James Franklin gives a fair picture of Dr Ryan, giving his his intellect and energies their due. But with my father in mind, I think he could have been less mathematically severe and ironic in his account and more understanding of the motivations people were feeling within ten years of the war and the cultural language they had to express themselves in.

James Franklin is also the author of Corrupting the Youth: A History of Philosophy in Australia. This is one of my favourite books, a must read for anyone interested in Australia's social history.

Link to James Franklins's Chapter Two, Catholic Values and Australian Realities: http://web.maths.unsw.edu.au/~jim/ryan.pdf

Comment: gerard@gerardcharleswilson.com