Dan McWilliams

As Bishop Richard F. Stika of Knoxville, Tennessee, presided at a memorial Mass and reentombment of the body of Father Patrick Ryan at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, a possible miracle attributable to the Chattanooga priest may already be in the works.

At 10:50 on the morning of July 27, Father J. David Carter’s voice rang out at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chattanooga: “We are about to lift the coffin from the grave.” And with that, the sainthood cause of Father Patrick Ryan, who has the title “Servant of God,” took a crucial step, as the exhumation of his remains for reentombment at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul could proceed.