Anthony J. O'Connell (May 10, 1938 – May 4, 2012) was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic church. He served as the first of the

Diocese of Knoxville The Diocese of Knoxville ( la, Dioecesis Knoxvillensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Tennessee. It was founded on May 27, 1988 from the eastern counties of the Diocese of Nashville. This dioces ...

in Tennessee from 1988 to 1998. He later served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach in Florida from 1999 to 2002. O'Connell resigned as bishop of Palm Beach in 2002 after admitting to the sexual abuse of minors years earlier.

Biography

Early life

O'Connell was born in

Lisheen Lisheen Mine is a former lead-zinc-silver mine located between the villages of Moyne and Templetuohy in County Tipperary, Ireland. In the Rathdowney Trend, Lisheen was an underground mine where the Lisheen deposit lies at an average depth of 170 ...

, County Clare,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Bishop Anthony Joseph O'Connell
''Catholic-Hierarchy''. Retrieved on April 17, 2010. and studied at Mount St Joseph College in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

and at Mungret College in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

. He emigrated to the U.S. at age 20 and entered Kenrick Seminary in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

Priesthood

On March 30, 1963, O'Connell was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri.Diocese of Knoxville
''GCatholic''. Retrieved on 17 April 2010.
''GCatholic''. Retrieved on 17 April 2010. Following his ordination, he was assigned as Director of Students at St. Thomas Aquinas Preparatory Seminary in Hannibal, Missouri. He was named Spiritual Director in 1968 and was appointed Rector in 1970. O'Connell served as Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Jefferson City from 1969 to 1988. He was a member of the Diocesan Commission for Personnel and President of the Priests' Senate. He was serving as Rector of St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary before becoming bishop.

Bishop of Knoxville

O'Connell was appointed by Pope John Paul II as the first bishop of the newly created Diocese of Knoxville on June 7, 1988. On September 8, 1988, O'Connell was consecrated, with Archbishop

Pio Laghi Pio Laghi (21 May 1922 – 10 January 2009) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. His service was primarily in the diplomatic service of the Holy See and the Roman Curia. He served as Apostolic nuncio to several countries and as the P ...

served as

principal consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

and Bishop James Niedergeses and Bishop Michael McAuliffe serving as principal co-consecrators.

Bishop of Palm Beach

On November 12, 1998, John Paul II appointed O'Connell as the third Bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach, replacing J. Keith Symons, who resigned after admitting he molested five boys early in his priesthood.

Resignation and legacy

On March 8, 2002, O'Connell admitted that he had molested at least two students of St. Thomas Aquinas Preparatory Seminary during his 25-year career there. That same day, O'Connell offered his resignation as bishop of Palm Beach to the Vatican. It was accepted by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

on March 13, 2002. After his resignation, O'Connell moved to

Mepkin Abbey Mepkin Abbey is a Trappist monastery in Berkeley County, South Carolina. The abbey is located near Moncks Corner, at the junction of the two forks of the Cooper River northwest of Charleston, and is located in the Diocese of Charleston. History ...

in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, to live a life of penance and prayer under supervision. Later in March, Christopher Dixon, a former priest from Missouri, accused O'Connell of sexually molesting him as a teenage seminarian at St. Thomas when O'Connell was rector of the seminary. After reporting the abuse in 1995, the Diocese of Jefferson City gave him a $125,000 settlement on condition that he sign a

non-disclosure agreement A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish ...

. That same month, Four former students, including two identified in media reports as "John C.C. Doe" and "Alexander," stepped forward to make allegations in regard to O'Connell's actions against students in his charge. The extent of O'Connell's transgressions was documented by ''Time'' magazine on March 22, 2002, noting that "Jefferson City diocese had been receiving complaints about sexual abuse by O'Connell as early as 1967." Anthony O'Connell died on May 4, 2012, six days before his 74th birthday, at Mepkin Abbey. His funeral Mass was May 7, 2012, at Mepkin Abbey. Michael Boyd, a Knoxville native, sued the Diocese of Knoxville on July 18, 2019, claiming that, when altar boy, he was abused by Knoxville priest Xavier Mankel and O'Connell. The diocese settled the suit settled out of court for undisclosed terms, and the diocese admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, Anthony 1938 births 2012 deaths Irish emigrants to the United States Irish people convicted of child sexual abuse People from County Clare Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville Roman Catholic bishops of Palm Beach American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent American members of the clergy convicted of crimes Catholic priests convicted of child sexual abuse 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic bishops in Tennessee Violence against men in North America