Winding road leads Rev. Ryan Mann to priesthood and eventually Brecksville

by Kathleen Steele Gaivin  
The Rev. Ryan Mann took an unconventional route to the priesthood, but he’s happy with the choice that led him to serve as administrator of St. Basil the Great Catholic Church in Brecksville. 

Mann replaces beloved longtime pastor the Rev. Walter Jenne, who retired Aug. 1 after 25 years at St. Basil. Mann is the church’s administrator for the time being, as only bishops can appoint new pastors. It will be up to Bishop Edward Malesic to make the position permanent once he is installed as bishop of Cleveland.  

Mann was raised by a Catholic mother and Jewish father, and he said he wasn’t very active in his faith until after graduating from Hudson High School. He began to delve deeper and practice Catholicism in earnest around the age of 19 or 20.  

Before entering the seminary, it seemed that the young man was bound for a career in entertainment. Mann had a full ride to the Berklee College of Music satellite program at Cuyahoga Community College, where he studied jazz and trumpet. He also dabbled in comedy and acting, where he said he found some success.  

“It was a fun ride,” Mann said.  

All that changed when Mann was about 21. He was seeking something more fulfilling and felt he might be called to serve the church as a priest.  

“I went when God called,” he said. “It wasn’t like he called me earlier and I put him off. He called when I was 21.” 

Three things led Mann to discern a calling to the priesthood: He was motivated by a powerful prayer experience, inspired by the role model of a young priest “and recognizing how big my desires were,” he said.  

On the advice of a young, happy priest Mann knew, Mann said he decided to give the seminary a year to see how things went. The rest, as they say, is history. After nine years of study, Mann was ordained to the Catholic priesthood on May 17, 2014.  

“I went in pretty open, and after a few years at the seminary, I kind of had a deep sense that this is where the creator wanted me,” the 37-year-old said.  

Mann’s decision to become a priest came as a shock to both the Catholic and Jewish sides of his family. After all, he was doing well in entertainment. For the Jewish relatives, it was a radical and foreign idea. Having a family and being successful are convictions of many Jews, and Mann was forsaking both, he said.  

Mann’s older half-siblings are Jewish. The priest said he has raised a few eyebrows when he’s attended his nephews’ bar mitzvahs wearing his clerical clothing. Nonetheless, Uncle Ryan, the Catholic priest, will attend his niece’s bat-mitzvah later this year, he said. 

Mann recognizes he has big shoes to fill in succeeding Jenne at the 4,500-family parish. The different gifts each priest has and the age gap between the them should keep comparisons to a minimum, he said.  

“They love their parish,” Mann said of the congregation.  

Some changes have been made already, but they are more the result of the pandemic than the change in leadership. As Catholics have returned to live worship, the church has started to come close to the 50-percent capacity allowed by the Diocese of Cleveland. Mann said the church has had to seat people in gathering spaces to meet social-distancing requirements.  

Therefore, St. Basil is going from two Sunday masses to four to create more space. The 9 a.m. Sunday mass will continue to be livestreamed at stbasilthegreat.org. Mann said his homilies are also available as podcasts on the parish website.  

Time will tell whether Mann is here for the long haul in the tradition of the beloved Father Walt. He’s happy to call St. Basil home for however long the church decides, he said.  “I haven’t lived anywhere longer than five years since I was 13,’’ Mann said. “Living anywhere 25 years is a foreign concept.’’

Feature image photo caption: The Rev. Ryan Mann stands outside St. Basil the Great Church. Photo by J. Kananian