The Catholic priest who created Operation Rice Bowl — Catholic Relief Services’ annual Lenten program — has died at the age of 95.
Monsignor Robert Coll, a retired priest of the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, died on April 20 in Naples, Florida.
Born on Aug. 13, 1930, Coll grew up in the Philadelphia area in a devout Catholic family. After attending St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, he felt called to the priesthood, attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, and was ordained a priest on May 7, 1959.
Early in his priesthood, Coll was a professor at Notre Dame High School in Easton and the chaplain at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In 1961, he became a priest for the then-newly established Diocese of Allentown.
From 1966 to 1980, Coll served as the founding pastor of St. Thomas More Church in Allentown and it was here, in 1975, that he created Operation Rice Bowl.
Operation Rice Bowl was a Lenten response to hunger in Africa and encouraged families to donate the money they saved from fasting and eating meatless meals during Lent to those suffering from hunger.
Today, Rice Bowl is a national program of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and has raised more than $350 million in 12,000 parishes nationwide.
In response to Collʼs passing, Sean Callahan, president and CEO of CRS said in a statement: “It is with deep sorrow that we mourn the passing of Monsignor Robert Coll, a visionary priest whose legacy of faith and service will endure for generations through CRS Rice Bowl, a program he founded more than 50 years ago.”
He added: “Through CRS Rice Bowl, Monsignor Coll gave U.S. Catholics a way to live the Church’s call to solidarity — recognizing the God-given dignity of every person and the shared responsibility to care for our neighbors, especially those living in poverty — so we might truly feel connected to our sisters and brothers across borders and oceans. Millions of families use the program each year to put their faith into action and become one global Catholic family.”
In 1980, Coll joined CRS as assistant executive director in New York City and later served as its European director in Rome until 1985. His ministry took him into some of the world’s most urgent humanitarian crises in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America.
During the Lebanese Civil War, Coll accompanied Mother Teresa through active war zones in order to reach her community, who were caring for children with disabilities and elderly victims.
He also acted as an on-air guide for Mike Wallace, one of the original correspondents featured on CBS news program “60 Minutes,” on his report about the devastating Ethiopian famine and helped bring global attention to the crisis.
Speaking on this work, Callahan said: “That commitment to the global Church was never more evident than when he answered the call in 1983 and traveled to Ethiopia to lead the Joint Relief Partnership for the Church’s response to the devastating famine. His presence on the ground was a turning point — bringing urgency, organization, and humanity to CRS’ response at a moment when the world desperately needed them.”
Coll returned to parish ministry in 1987 as pastor of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Bethlehem where he served until his retirement in 1996. During his retirement, the priest helped establish St. Agnes Catholic Church in Naples, Florida. He also regularly helped celebrate Mass at St. John the Evangelist Parish, which is where his burial Mass will take place on May 12.
“His faith never wavered. His enthusiasm never faded,” Callahan said. “And the warmth and inspiration he gave to those around him lives on in every Rice Bowl collected and every hungry family fed.”