Mark O'Connell (bishop)

{{Infobox Christian leader

| type = Bishop

| honorific-prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend

| name = Mark William O'Connell

| title = Auxiliary Bishop of Boston
Titular Bishop of Gigthi

| church = Roman Catholic Church

| archdiocese = Boston

| diocese =

| other_post =

| appointed = June 3, 2016

| enthroned = August 24, 2016

| predecessor =

| successor =

| ordination = June 16, 1990

| consecration = August 24, 2016

| ordained_by =

| consecrated_by = Seán Patrick O'Malley, Walter James Edyvean, and Peter J. Uglietto

| rank =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1964|6|25}}

| birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality =

| religion = Roman Catholic

| motto = Invenimus Messiam
(We have found the Messiah)

| alma_mater =

| education = Boston College (B.A., 1986)
Saint John's Seminary (Massachusetts) (MDiv, 1990)
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome (Licentiate Degree, 1999; Doctorate, 2002)

}}

{{Infobox bishopstyles

| name= Mark William O'Connell

| dipstyle=

| offstyle=Your Excellency

| relstyle=Bishop

| image = Coat of arms of Mark William O’Connell.svg

| image_size = 200px

}}

Mark William O'Connell (born June 25, 1964) is a Canadian-born American Catholic prelate who has served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Boston since 2016. He has been the vicar general and moderator of the curia for the archdiocese since 2023.

Biography

= Early life =

Mark O'Connell was born in Toronto, Ontario, on June 25, 1964, to Thomas F. and Margaret M. (Delaney) O'Connell, both American citizens. His father Thomas was the head librarian at York University in Toronto.{{cite web|url=https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/bcnews/news-archive-2011-to-2015/chronicle/2013/news/oconnellobit010913.html|title=Obit: Former University Librarian Thomas F. O'Connell '50|accessdate=January 19, 2023|publisher=Boston College}} Mark O'Connell has two brothers and one sister. The family returned to Massachusetts when Mark O'Connell was age 12, his father taking a job at Boston College.

Mark O'Connell graduated from Dover-Sherborn High School in Dover, Massachusetts, in 1982.{{cite news|url=http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=176638

|newspaper=The Pilot|date=June 3, 2016|title=Bishop-elect O'Connell biography|accessdate=August 26, 2016}} He then entered Boston College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and philosophy in 1986.{{cite web |date=August 24, 2016 |title=Mark O'Connell '86 |url=http://www.bc.edu/bc-web/bcnews/campus-community/alumni/fr--mark-o-connell-named-bishop1.html |accessdate=August 26, 2016 |website=BC News |publisher=Boston College}} Having decided to enter the priesthood, O'Connell then studied at Saint John's Seminary in Boston.

= Priesthood =

O'Connell was ordained into the priesthood at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston by Cardinal Bernard Law for the Archdiocese of Boston on June 16, 1990. After his ordination, O'Connell served in parishes in Woburn and Danvers and as a college chaplain at Salem State College, all in Massachusetts.

O'Connell undertook studies in canon law starting in 1997 at the Pontifical Athenaeum of the Holy Cross in Rome, completing his licentiate degree in 1999 and his doctorate in 2002. O'Connell's dissertation was titled The Mobility of Secular Clerics and Incardination.{{cite book

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j5TkNAEACAAJ|publisher=Universita della Santa Croce|year=2002|title=The Mobility of Secular Clerics and Incardination|author=Mark William O'Connell|isbn=9788883330476 |accessdate=July 12, 2020}} After returning to Boston, he joined the canonical affairs staff of the archdiocese in 2001 and was appointed judicial vicar in 2007, a position he held until 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.bostoncatholic.org/press-release/2018/07/july-25-2018-cardinal-appoints-rev-jonathan-defelice-osb-judicial-vicar|title=JULY 25, 2018 – CARDINAL APPOINTS REV. JONATHAN DEFELICE, O.S.B. JUDICIAL VICAR FOR THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON|publisher=Archdiocese of Boston|date=July 25, 2018|author=Cardinal Seán O’Malley|accessdate=January 26, 2023}}

From 2009 to 2012, O'Connell served as a senior consultor to the Canon Law Society of America.{{cite web|url=http://www.clsa.org/page/bogoconnell|publisher=Canon Law Society of America|title=Very Rev. Mark O'Connell, J.C.D.|accessdate=August 26, 2016}} He has also served on the faculty of Saint John's Seminary and the Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts. From 2011 to 2014, O'Connell was a co-host on the daily radio program The Good Catholic Life, broadcast on radio station WQOM in Boston.{{cite web|title=Fr. Mark O'Connell, co-host of The Good Catholic Life|url=http://www.thegoodcatholiclife.com/2011/03/04/fr-mark-oconnell-co-host-of-the-good-catholic-life|website=The Good Catholic Life|date=4 March 2011 |accessdate=September 18, 2016}}

=Auxiliary Bishop of Boston=

On June 3, 2016, Pope Francis appointed O'Connell as an auxiliary bishop of Boston and titular bishop of Gigthi in Tripolitana.{{Catholic-hierarchy|bishop|boconnm|Bishop Mark William O'Connell|August 26, 2016}}{{cite news|url=https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.php?ID=176637|newspaper=The Pilot|date=June 3, 2016|title=Pope names two auxiliary Bishops for the Archdiocese of Boston|accessdate=January 26, 2023}}{{cite web|url=http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2016/06/bishop-sheen-meet-bishop-reed-pope-taps.html|author=Rocco Palmo|title=Bishop Sheen, Meet Bishop Reed – Pope Taps CatholicTV Titan, Tribunal Chief as Boston Auxes|date=June 3, 2016|work=Whispers in the Loggia|accessdate=August 26, 2016}} He was consecrated on August 24, 2016, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston by Cardinal Seán O'Malley, with Bishops Walter Edyvean and Peter Uglietto serving as co-consecrators.{{cite news |author=Leah Dearborn |date=August 24, 2016 |title=Swampscott native ordained bishop |publisher=itemlive.com |url=http://www.itemlive.com/news/swampscott-native-ordained-bishop |accessdate=August 26, 2016}}

As auxiliary bishop, O'Connell was assigned the north region of the archdiocese and appointed pastor of St. Theresa Parish in North Reading, Massachusetts, until December 2022.{{cite news|url=http://localheadlinenews.com/bishop-mark-oconnell-called-to-serve-cardinal-sean-omalley-archbishop-of-boston/|title=Bishop Mark O'Connell called to serve Cardinal Seán O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston|publisher=North Reading Transcript|date=December 29, 2022|author=Aubrey Kelly|accessdate=January 1, 2023}} Since January 2023, he has served as vicar general and moderator of the curia of the archdiocese.{{cite web|url=http://www.bostoncatholic.org/news/december-2-2022-most-reverend-mark-oconnell-jcd-appointed-vicar-general-and-moderator-curia|title=December 2, 2022 - Most Reverend Mark O'Connell, JCD, appointed Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of Boston|publisher=Archdiocese of Boston|date=December 2, 2022|author=Cardinal Seán O’Malley|accessdate=January 1, 2023}}

For the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, O'Connell is a member of the Committee for the Protection of Children & Young People.{{Cite web |title=Protection of Children & Young People Committee |url=https://www.usccb.org/committees/protection-children-young-people/committee |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=www.usccb.org |language=en}}