CHOSICA, Peru – An American member of the Congregation of Holy Cross was named an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Chosica. Bishop-designate Arthur J. Colgan, 68, a native of Dorchester, Mass., has served as vicar general of the diocese since 2010.
The appointment was announced at the Vatican Oct. 13.
“As I pray about my appointment, I know that my experience in the past is that the Lord provides the grace and the wisdom we need to respond to his calls in the course of our life, so I trust that that will be the case this time, too,” Bishop-designate Colgan said in a statement released by his order.
Holy Cross Father Richard V. Warner, superior general of the congregation, said the bishop-designate has served the church and the congregation well throughout his 42 years as a priest.
“He has been an inspiration for the people to whom and with whom he has served for many years. We are honored that our Holy Father has called him to this new ministry,” Father Warner said in a statement.
Bishop-designate Colgan was ordained to the priesthood Oct. 27, 1973, and has spent most of his religious life ministering in Peru. He has served as pastor of local parishes in Peru and in various leadership and administrative capacities in Peru and the United States.
In addition to service as vicar general of the Chosica Diocese during two separate times, Bishop-designate Colgan was vicar general of the Diocese of Chimbote from 1978 to 1980 and episcopal vicar of the Archdiocese of Lima from 1993 to 1997.
He also was superior general of the Holy Cross congregation in Peru, 1974-1975, served as pastor of two parishes in the 1980s, and was executive secretary of the Commission for Social Action of the Peruvian bishops’ conference from 1982 to 1992.
Bishop-designate Colgan left Peru for the United States in 2000 to serve as provincial superior of the eastern province of the Congregation of the Holy Cross based in Bridgeport, Conn., for nine years. He returned to the Chosica Diocese to serve as vicar general in 2010.
His episcopal ordination is set for Dec. 12 in San Andres de Huaycan Cathedral in Chosica.
