Pope Leo XIV has appointed Monsignor Niall Coll, 62 years old, as the new bishop of Raphoe (Ireland), a decision that confirms the rapid projection of this prelate within the Irish episcopate. Vatican media reported this on November 13, 2025, and The Irish Times highlights Coll’s return to the diocese where he was born and ordained. His profile combines a solid academic formation—including a doctorate in Christology from the Pontifical Gregorian University—with an increasingly notable public presence, especially due to his favorable stances on the synodal process and his approach to progressive positions on liturgical and moral issues.
Coll was born in Letterkenny in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1988. After several years of pastoral ministry, he went to Rome to complete advanced studies that strengthened his career as a theologian and educator. These academic credentials contributed to his appointment as bishop of Ossory in 2022, where his public tone began to attract the attention of the faithful and observers inside and outside Ireland.
Criticism of the Tridentine liturgical legacy
One of the most commented episodes of Coll’s time in Ossory took place after his episcopal appointment. In statements disseminated by the diocese and quoted by various media, including RTÉ, he stated that “the domination of more than four centuries of the Tridentine model” had left Catholics “little familiarized with discerning and negotiating changes” in the life of the Church. This phrase already began to reveal a theological thought that associates the liturgical tradition with an obstacle to ecclesial renewal. For Coll, the Church must “discern and change”, a formulation that directly connects with the synodal vision promoted during the pontificate of Francis.
A public stance favorable to the inclusion of homosexual persons
Another point of controversy surrounding Coll arose after his intervention on the program “The Pat Kenny Show”, on Newstalk, in January 2023. Asked about the then Pope Francis’s words on homosexuality, Coll stated that he welcomed them “with satisfaction” and recalled that “homosexual persons are human beings and are important to the life of the Church”. The Irish press reported these statements verbatim, interpreting them as an explicit endorsement of the inclusive pastoral line promoted from Rome.
Participation in an Anglican “Eucharist” and explicit desire for intercommunion
One of the most significant episodes of his recent career is, without a doubt, his participation in an Anglican celebration in January 2025. According to the British Catholic weekly The Tablet, Coll preached a homily in the Anglican cathedral of St Canice, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. After the ceremony, he stated that it had been “one of the most moving experiences of spiritual communion” and regretted that Anglicans and Catholics “cannot yet receive the Eucharist together”, considering this separation “a reason for sadness”.
A declared defender of the synodal process
Coll’s affinity with synodality was again evident in October of that same year, when at a synodal meeting in Kilkenny—quoted by Catholic News Agency—he stated that a synodal Church fosters a more open culture of debate and discernment. He added that Catholics must “read the signs of the times” and follow the direction of “renewal and reform” marked by the pontificate of Francis. This statement, consistent with his theological line, confirms that he sees synodality not only as a pastoral method, but as a path of structural transformation within the Church.
After the death of Pope Francis, Coll reiterated this vision in a statement reported by The Irish Catholic, where he described the pontiff as a “kind, brave, and meek pastor” and thanked for the “great leadership” that—in his opinion—would have contributed to the global Church. His ecclesial ideology is thus defined by the explicit continuity with the reformist paradigm of the previous pontificate.