[2] After completing his theological studies, Ludden was ordained to the priesthood in Montreal for the Diocese of Albany by Bishop Ignace Bourget on May 21, 1864.

[5] On December 14, 1886, Ludden was appointed the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Syracuse by Pope Leo XIII.

[3] He received his episcopal consecration on May 1, 1887, from Archbishop Michael Corrigan, with Bishops Bernard McQuaid and Francis McNeirny serving as co-consecrators.

[6] At the time of Ludden's arrival, the diocese contained 70,000 Catholics, 74 priests, 46 parishes, 20 mission churches, and 16 parochial schools.

[5] In 1911, Ludden gained a degree of notoriety when he declared that the deadlock in the New York Legislature over the election of William F. Sheehan to the United States Senate was due to anti-Catholicism.