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Ralph Bernard O'Donnell
Bishop of Jefferson City
Bishop
1969
1997
Ordained
2025
Consecrated Bishop
Jefferson City
Diocese
United States
Country
The Life
Ralph Bernard O'Donnell was born on August 31, 1969. Ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Omaha in 1997, he served in Omaha until his appointment to Jefferson City.
He was appointed Bishop of Jefferson City on August 19, 2025 and was ordained and installed on October 28, 2025, succeeding Abp. Shawn McKnight.
Major Works & Initiatives
Bishop of Jefferson City (2025- )
An Omaha priest, appointed on 19 August 2025 and ordained and installed on 28 October 2025, succeeding Abp. McKnight.
In His Own Words
I'm grateful to the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV for this appointment. 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.
Statement on his appointment as 5th Bishop of Jefferson City, announced August 19, 2025; Diocese of Jefferson City, which prints it under his name and separately from Archbishop Rozanski'sThe Old Mass, See by See
Jefferson City2025-10-28 – presentNo act of his own
What he inheritedThe diocese Abp. McKnight left: its only Traditional Latin Mass, at St. Brendan, Mexico, ended in June 2025 when McKnight let the Dicastery dispensation lapse, months before O'Donnell's arrival. No act of his own on the old Mass has been published. Site counts are left null: on his arrival no TLM site remained to count.
Since the SSPX decree of 2 July 2026: No statement recorded as of 2026-10-22.
Domus Dei’s Verdict
The Bishop & the Mass of Ages
He was installed at Jefferson City in October 2025, months after the diocese's only Traditional Latin Mass ended when the Vatican dispensation was allowed to lapse. No act of his own has been published.
References & Further Reading
1.
Ralph Bernard O'Donnell - Catholic-HierarchyEpiscopal dates.
Portrait: Own work / Wikimedia Commons