Denver, Colo., Oct 28, 2022 / 16:35 pm
Father Niall Coll, a parish priest and longtime university professor from the north side of Ireland, is Pope Francis’ choice to head the country’s southeastern Diocese of Ossory. In his introduction to his new diocese, he encouraged work to build “a new generation of Christian witnesses.”
“Please know that I am as surprised as you that I find myself standing before you this morning as the future Bishop of Ossory,” he said Friday. He characterized the appointment as “the beginning of a new life and ministry for me, and a new chapter for the Ossory Diocese.”
Coll, 59, is a priest of the Diocese of Raphoe. He is currently a parish priest in County Donegal’s Tawnawilly Parish serving churches in Donegal town and Clar.
His appointment was announced in Kilkenny at the Ossory Diocese’s Cathedral of St. Mary. The bishop-designate’s statement alluded to the contrasts between Ulster, Ireland’s northern province, and his new home in Leinster, on the island’s east.