Pope Leo XIV has elevated Fr. Anthony J. Corcoran, SJ, to the office of bishop. A member of the Jesuits USA Central and Southern Province, Fr. Corcoran has served as apostolic administrator of Kyrgyzstan since 2017 and will continue there as bishop.
“I pray that this decision of the Church to call me to the episcopacy may truly encourage and strengthen the faithful and serve for the common good of this society,” Bishop-elect Corcoran said. “I can affirm that I am called increasingly to give all, to be ‘all in,’ with regard to my vocation to give myself to this community.”
It is estimated that there are currently only a few hundred Catholics living in Kyrgyzstan. Despite the declining numbers, the Church remains vibrant, Bishop-elect Corcoran said, with a notable number of social and educational activities. Because it is not a diocese, Fr. Corcoran has been named titular bishop of Aëtus, a now-defunct diocese in Greece. The date of his episcopal ordination has not been set but should occur within the coming weeks.
A Jesuit for 40 years, Fr. Corcoran was previously missioned to the Russian region for almost two decades. Prior to his appointment to his service in Kyrgyzstan, he served as superior of the Russian Region of the Jesuits from 2008 to 2017. Prior to that he was missioned for over a decade to Siberia, where he served as spiritual director (1997-2004) and rector of the minor seminary in Novosibirsk (2007-2017), and vicar general of the Diocese of Novosibirsk (1997-2000, 2001-2004, 2007-2008).
Born in Tucson, Arizona, and raised in Texas, Fr. Corcoran entered the Society of Jesus in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, in 1985. He was ordained a priest in 1996. He earned an undergraduate degree in political science from Marquette University in 1985 and a master’s degree in international political economic development from Fordham University in 1990. He completed ecclesiastical degrees in theology at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Boston, earning a licentiate in sacred theology (S.T.L.) in 1997 and a doctorate in sacred theology (S.T.D.) in 2007. He professed his final vows in the Society of Jesus in Moscow in 2002.
Father Corcoran’s lengthy service to the Church in the former Soviet bloc was inspired by his predecessors in the Society of Jesus: “As a novice, I read the remarkable stories of the great missionaries in the Society’s — and our provinces’ – history. I became interested in the possibility of serving in Russia. At the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Holy Father asked for Jesuits (among other orders) to go to the Soviet Union to find and serve the Catholics who had held onto their faith throughout the terrible persecution of the communists.”
Support the Church in Kyrgyzstan and Bishop Corcoran’s work: Jesuits.family/fr-corcoran
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