New bishop outlines vision to refocus parishes
The incoming Bishop of Raphoe Diocese (Donegal) Bishop Niall Coll wants to bring what he learnt from his experience as Bishop of Ossory to his new home diocese of Raphoe and that chiefly will be catechetical renewal at parish level. His installation as Bishop of Raphoe will take place later this month, but the bishop is already working on his vision for Raphoe.
“One aspect that became very clear to me in Ossory is that our parishes need to be better equipped to catechise people of all ages,” the bishop said. The parishes “need to become catechumenal hubs – places where adults, young and not so young, can explore the faith together and receive solid instruction” he told The Irish Catholic.
Bishop Coll said that “even in our highly secularised society, there are signs that some people are discovering, or rediscovering, a desire to know Christ and to understand their faith more deeply. Responding to this will require a refocusing at parish level. I would hope, as is already happening in Ossory, that we can begin identifying and training people who have a real charism for catechesis within the parishes of the diocese.”
A priority for Bishop Coll is to visit the sick and retired priests who are in hospitals and nursing homes. “I want to reintroduce myself, but more importantly to thank them personally for their faithful and generous service to the Gospel among the people and parishes of Raphoe over many decades.”
He plans to meet with the people and clergy in Raphoe, “to meet them, listen to them and learn from them.” He also hopes to begin “a more structured process of discernment, allowing us to move forward together in a spirit of faith, hope and love.”
Another priority for him is to join the Raphoe Synodality Group conversation, “and help widen it among both clergy and people.” Bishop Coll added: “Pope Leo XIV has already signalled, at the beginning of his pontificate, how important this synodal way of working is for the life of the Church everywhere, and I see it as an essential part of our shared journey in Raphoe.”
The involvement of young people in the diocese encourages the bishop, he said. “From what I can see, youth involvement in Raphoe in recent years has been receiving more attention than it may have had in the past.” Raphoe currently has five young men studying for the priesthood, “which, by national standards, is a genuinely hopeful and impressive sign.”
Speaking about his installation, Bishop Coll said he is “very much looking forward to returning home, renewing old friendships across the Diocese of Raphoe, and getting to know many new people in parishes scattered across its beautiful, rugged and extensive landscape. There is a strong sense of gratitude in me, and an excitement, as I prepare to take up this new chapter of ministry among my own people.”
