James O'Collins
James Patrick O'Collins , an Australian suffragan bishop, was the fifth Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ballarat, serving for over 29 years.
Born in, Victoria, O'Collins was ordained as a priest on 23 December 1922. He was appointed as bishop of Geraldton in Western Australia on 11 February 1930. On 23 December 1941 he was appointed as bishop of Ballarat and returned to Victoria. O'Collins retired on 1 May 1971 and was appointed as Bishop Emeritus of Ballarat.
He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1980 for services to religion and the community.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found that O'Collins had received a complaint in the 1960s that Father Gerald Ridsdale had sexually abused a boy but did not take action.
