A FORMER professor at St Mary's University College Belfast has been appointed by Pope Francis as the new bishop of the diocese of Ossory.
Fr Niall Coll (59) yesterday concelebrated a special mass in St Mary’s Cathedral in Kilkenny at which he was introduced to the diocese.
He told the congregation that he was "as surprised as you that I find myself standing before you this morning as the future bishop of Ossory".
"A telephone call from the apostolic nunciature on a recent Sunday evening asking me to come to Dublin for a meeting began a process that brings me here today to what is the beginning of a new life and ministry for me, and a new chapter for the Ossory diocese," he said.
Describing himself as "an Ulsterman in deepest Leinster", Fr Coll said he had "spent most of his ministry in the world of education".
"But here I am. Truly, I am feeling daunted by the prospect and know that it will only be by God’s grace and your welcome and ongoing support that I will be able to minister fruitfully here," he added.
Originally from Letterkenny, he has been a priest since 1988 and studied in Maynooth, Rome and Dublin.
He has been a teacher at St Eunan's College in Letterkenny, lecturer at St Patrick’s College in Carlow as well as Professor of Religious Studies and Religious Education at St Mary’s University College in Belfast between 2001 and 2019.
He has been a curate and parish priest at parishes in Co Donegal.
During his ministry, he has conducted retreats for clergy, has contributed to various publications, including Doctrine and Life, The Furrow, The Irish Theological Quarterly and The Tablet and was the Editorial Director of the Catholic School ethos journal Le Chéile.
The diocese of Ossory, which takes in Co Kilkenny and parts of Carlow and Laois, has been without a bishop since Archbishop Dermot Farrell was appointed to the archdiocese of Dublin in 2018.
Bishop Denis Nulty, of the neighbouring diocese of Kildare and Loughlin has been the apostolic administrator of Ossory since then, with the Vatican yesterday announcing that Fr Coll will be the new bishop.
Fr Coll said he was looking "forward to working with the priests, people and religious of the diocese of Ossory to enhance the work already underway here to develop a sustaining theological and pastoral vision, one able to invite, inform and enthuse a new generation of Christian witnesses".
