(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday appointed Father Ralph O’Donnell from the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, as the next bishop of Jefferson City, Missouri.
Bishop-elect O’Donnell, 55, has been a priest for 28 years and currently serves as the pastor of St. Margaret Mary Church in Omaha. O’Donnell replaces Bishop Shawn McKnight, who was appointed as the bishop of Kansas City, Kansas, by Pope Francis shortly before his death in April.
“I’m grateful to the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, for this appointment,” the priest said in a statement after his 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.”
We welcome with joy Fr. Ralph O’Donnell, who has been appointed the fifth Bishop of Jefferson City! Learn more: https://t.co/5b2HKKiUtp pic.twitter.com/oB2hcCpM2y
— Diocese of Jefferson City (@DioJeffCity) August 19, 2025
Since his ordination to the priesthood in 1997, the Omaha native has served as a pastor and associate pastor of several local parishes, including as pastor of St. Margaret Mary, where he has been stationed since 2019. O’Donnell is currently listed as a board member of Catholic Charities of Omaha.
Catholic Charities, along with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has been sharply criticized over its alleged support for illegal immigration. The nonprofit manages the day-to-day care for many unaccompanied alien children (UACs) and, along with the USCCB, has received $449 million from the U.S. government to shelter and transport unaccompanied immigrant children over the years.
READ: USCCB, Catholic Charities received $449 million for unaccompanied migrant children: report
The organization has also been scrutinized for placing children with unvetted sponsors, even after reports emerged that some of these children ended up in forced labor, sex trafficking, or other forms of abuse.
It is also well known that the nonprofit assists foreign nationals who have broken U.S. immigration laws. For example, one Catholic Charities YouTube video shows Barbara Graham, program director and immigration attorney for Catholic Charities, advising people of their rights when approached by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
EXPOSED: Catholic Charities Coaching Illegals on How to Evade Immigration Authorities!
Watch this shocking video where Catholic Charities openly instructs illegals on how to dodge ICE, avoid answering questions, and game the system.
These tactics aren’t about “rights”—they’re… pic.twitter.com/hfgJXfwsv2
— Amy Mek (@AmyMek) January 27, 2025
O’Donnell holds a bachelor’s degree in religion from Conception Seminary College, a master of divinity from the University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois, and a master’s degree in Christian spirituality from Creighton University in Omaha.
The priest also previously served as the director of the permanent diaconate for the Archdiocese of Omaha in 2008-2009; vice rector and dean of formation at Conception Seminary College in Conception, Missouri from 2011 to 2015; and most notably as executive director for the Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations at the USCCB from 2015 to 2019, where he also succeeded then-Father McKnight.
McKnight, who was appointed by the late Pope Francis to replace the staunchly pro-life Archbishop Joseph Naumann as ordinary of Kansas City, Kansas, in April, holds a much weaker position on pro-life issues. In 2021, McKnight signed a letter urging the USCCB to halt discussion of prohibiting the Eucharist to pro-abortion, self-identified Catholic politicians.
READ: Pope Francis replaces Archbishop Naumann with bishop who opposed banning pro-aborts from Communion
“To change hearts and minds, we cannot merely threaten punishment,” McKnight wrote at the time. “The Holy Father has placed encounter, dialogue, honesty and collaboration at the heart of his approach to public conversation, not confrontation or threats, and he has repeatedly indicated he is not in favor of using the Eucharist as a means to discipline politicians.”
He added that “as bishops enter this dialogue with each other and with elected officials, there must be an openness to learn as well as share their own views.”
That same year, McKnight falsely claimed that Catholics have a “moral responsibility” to get the experimental, abortion-tainted COVID shots and directed priests not to grant religious exemption requests for the injections, which have been linked to numerous serious injuries and deaths.
