America Magazine recently wrote that "a gem of a diocese is getting a gem of a new bishop." On July 30 at 8 p.m. (Eastern), the CatholicTV Network will air the Episcopal Ordination Mass of Bishop-elect David O’Connell from Saint Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, NJ. The Mass will also be archived at www.catholictv.com/catholic-television.
Before being consecrated as Auxiliary Bishop, Bishop-elect O’Connell was President of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. During his tenure, he appeared on an episode of the CatholicTV travel series Catholic Destinations with Kevin Nelson.
The Diocese of Trenton’s Coadjutor Bishop David M. O’Connell was born April 21, 1955, in Philadelphia. Bishop O’Connell, a priest of the Eastern Province of the Congregation of the Mission, also known as the Vincentians, grew up in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.
He prepared for the priesthood in Mary Immaculate Seminary, Northampton, Pennsylvania where he received a master of divinity degree in 1981 and a master’s degree in moral theology in 1983. He pursued studies in canon law at The Catholic University of America, Washington, obtaining a licentiate in 1987 and then a doctorate in canon law in 1990.
In 1990, he joined St. John’s University, New York, where he served as academic dean for the following eight years. In 1998, then-Father O’Connell was named the 14th president of The Catholic University of America. Among the many highlights of his presidency was the opportunity to serve as a member of the planning committee for Pope Benedict XVI’s pastoral visit to the United States in April 2008, and to host the pope at CUA, where he delivered an address to Catholic educators. On June 4, 2010, the Holy Father appointed him coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Trenton.
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