Ireland’s success culture leaving many others ‘behind as a form of roadkill’ – Bishop Coll

Looking forward to the Jubilee of Hope in 2025,  Bishop Niall Coll of Ossory diocese says he thinks “It has a wonderful message that needs to be shared in the context of an Irish society which is presenting as increasingly materialistic, secular and anxious.”

Bishop Coll added: ‘Many people seem to find life meaningless and have lost a sense of direction and purpose. For some this leads to addictions of one kind or another.

“Meanwhile loud voices in media, politics and culture trumpet a success culture which leaves many behind as a form of roadkill. Pope Francis sees clearly that whatever our state of life, we cannot live without three fundamental dispositions of the soul, namely, to believe, to hope and to love. He is absolutely correct,” Bishop Coll said.

Bishop Coll said the Diocese of Ossory is “working to develop the Pastoral Areas around which our lives of faith and worship will cohere in the years to come.” He has been the Bishop of Ossory for less than two years and is “keen to continue to get to know the people and places which make up the Diocese. Inviting people into a deeper commitment and service, together with the clergy, of their communities will be a top priority for me in 2025 as we work to develop a truly synodal and co-responsible model of church life,” he said. “Inevitably, this will be slow and patient work, truly inter-generational work; as we know every journey begins with the first steps.”