ARCHDIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES’ AUXILIARY BISHOP DAVID G. O’CONNELL DIED TODAY UNEXPECTEDLY
February 18, 2023  |  By:   |  Press Releases  |  

Archdiocese of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell for the San Gabriel Pastoral Region died unexpectedly today, February 18, 2023. The cause of death is yet to be determined.

In a statement released earlier today, Archbishop José H. Gomez expressed his sadness and described Bishop O’Connell as a “man of deep prayer who had a great love for Our Blessed Mother … a peacemaker with a heart for the poor and the immigrant.”

“I am very sad this afternoon to report that our beloved Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell has passed away unexpectedly. It is a shock and I have no words to express my sadness,” said Archbishop Gomez.

“As a priest and later a bishop here in Los Angeles for more than forty-five years, Bishop Dave was a man of deep prayer who had a great love for Our Blessed Mother. He was a peacemaker with a heart for the poor and the immigrant, and a passion for building a community where the sanctity and dignity of every human life was honored and protected.

“He was also a good friend, and I will miss him greatly. I know we all will. Please join me in praying for Bishop Dave and for his family in Ireland. May Our Lady of Guadalupe wrap him in the mantle of her love, and may the angels lead him into paradise, and may he rest in peace,” said Archbishop Gomez in his statement.

Bishop O’Connell, who was born in County Cork, Ireland in 1953, was named an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles by Pope Francis in 2015. He studied for the priesthood at All Hallows College in Dublin and was ordained to serve in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1979. After ordination, he served as associate pastor in several parishes and as pastor at St. Frances X. Cabrini, Ascension, St. Eugene and St. Michael’s parishes, all in L.A.

He was the chairman of the interdiocesan Southern California Immigration Task Force, helping coordinate the church’s response to immigrant children and families from Central America in recent years. He was key in sponsoring the enrollment of several young immigrants in Catholic schools, several of whom have advanced to college.

Last September, Bishop O’Connell was honored with the Evangelii Gaudium Award from St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, for his selfless service to the community and the Church in L.A. At a national level, he was the chairman of the Subcommittee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

For more information, read full article about late Bishop David G. O’Connell on the Archdiocese’s publication Angelus News, https://angelusnews.com/local/la-catholics/bishop-oconnell-dies/amp/.      

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