On June 12, 1907 Pope Pius X appointed Collins as the Titular Bishop of Antiphellus and Vicar Apostolic of Jamaica.
The principal co-consecrators were Bishops Thomas Beaven of Springfield in Massachusetts and Charles McDonnell of Brooklyn.
[1][2] Prior to being consecrated a bishop in 1907, Collins served as the president of Fordham University, a Jesuit institution in the Bronx, New York, from 1904 until 1906.
[3] His tenure as president saw the completion of the university's auditorium, which was dedicated to Collins by Cardinal John Murphy Farley in 1905.
[5] American architect Raymond F. Almirall designed Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kingston at Collins' bequest.