Pope Leo appoints Fr. Ralph O’Donnell as bishop of Jefferson City

Pope Leo XIV appointed Father Ralph Bernard O’Donnell, a pastor in the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, as the bishop of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri, on Aug. 19.

Monsignor Većeslav Tumir, chargé d’ affaires, a.i., of the Apostolic Nunciature, announced the appointment in Washington, DC, because Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the US, is temporarily absent.

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) website, Fr. O’Donnell is currently the pastor of Saint Mary Magdalene Parish in Omaha, where he has served since 2019. He was ordained on June 7, 1997, after receiving his bachelor’s degree in religion from Conception Seminary College in 1993 and master of divinity from University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois, in 1997. He later received a master’s degree in Christian spirituality from Creighton University in Omaha in 2000.

Fr. O’Donnell has served as associate pastor and pastor at several parishes in the archdiocese. He also served as its director of vocations from 2003 to 2008 and its director of the permanent diaconate from 2008 to 2009. He was the vice rector and dean of formation at Conception Seminary College in Conception from 2011 to 2015 and the executive director for the Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations at the USCCB from 2015 to 2019.

"I’m grateful to the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV for this appointment,” Bishop-elect O’Donnell stated, according to the diocese's website. “I look forward to coming to know and to serve the people of the Diocese of Jefferson City with joy. Let us pray for one another in the days ahead."

Bishop-elect O’Donnell will be ordained and installed Oct. 28. He succeeds Bishop W. Shawn McKnight, who Pope Francis appointed as archbishop of Kansas City on April 8, upon the retirement of Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann.