Anthony Joseph O'Connell

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Anthony Joseph O'Connell (born May 10, 1938 in Lisheen , Ireland ; † May 4, 2012 ) was Roman Catholic Bishop of Knoxville from 1988 to 1998 and Bishop of Palm Beach from 1998 to 2002 .

Life

Anthony Joseph O'Connell immigrated to the United States after attending Mount St. Joseph College in Cork and Mungret College in Limerick, and entered Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Jefferson City on March 30, 1963 . O'Connell was prefect of studies, from 1968 spiritual and from 1970 rector of the St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Hannibal, Missouri. From 1969 to 1988 he was director of vocations in the Ordinariate in Jefferson City. He was a member of the Diocesan Commission for Personnel and President of the Diocesan Council.

Pope John Paul II appointed him on May 27, 1988 first bishop of the diocese of Knoxville, established on the same date. The Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in the USA , Pio Laghi , donated him episcopal ordination on September 8 of the same year ; Co- consecrators were James Daniel Niedergeses , Bishop of Nashville , and Michael Francis McAuliffe , Bishop of Jefferson City.

In 1996, the Jefferson City Diocese, where he had previously served, paid a former student on whom O'Connell had molested $ 125,000 in a lawsuit.

He was named bishop of Palm Beach on November 12, 1998, and was appointed bishop on January 14 of the next year. He resigned after it became known that he had sexually abused teenagers while serving at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Hannibal, Missouri .

On August 13, 2002, John Paul II accepted his resignation.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Pope Names Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell as Bishop of Palm Beach. USCCB , November 11, 1998, archived from the original on April 16, 2013 ; Retrieved May 9, 2012 .
  2. ^ Laurie Goodstein, Catholic Bishop in Florida Quits, Admitting Sex Abuse in the 70's , New York Times , March 9, 2002
  3. ^ AP : Former student to sue bishop , Gainesville Sun, March 17, 2002
predecessor Office successor
--- Bishop of Knoxville
1988–1998
Joseph Edward Kurtz
Joseph Keith Symons Bishop of Palm Beach
1998-2002
Sean Patrick O'Malley OFMCap