Vatican City, Aug 19, 2025 / 06:00 am

Pope Leo XIV has named Father Ralph O’Donnell of the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, as the new bishop of Jefferson City, Missouri. He will succeed Archbishop Shawn McKnight, who in May was installed as archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas.

Bishop-elect O’Donnell has most recently served as pastor of St. Margaret Mary Parish in Omaha.

Born on Aug. 31, 1969, in Omaha, he earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from Conception Seminary College and a master of divinity degree from the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. He later obtained a master’s degree in spirituality from Creighton University.

Ordained a priest in 1997, O’Donnell has served in various pastoral and administrative roles, including vocations director, seminary vice rector, and executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations (2015–2019).