Thomas Joseph O'Brien (November 29, 1935 – August 26, 2018) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Phoenix from 1982 to 2003. O'Brien resigned as bishop in 2003 after his involvement in a fatal hit-and-run accident.

Biography

Early life and ministry

Thomas O'Brien was born on November 29, 1935 in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, Indiana, and attended St. Meinrad Seminary. Feeling a call to the priesthood from an early age, O'Brien was ordained for the

Diocese of Tucson The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson ( la, Dioecesis Tucsonensis, es, Diócesis de Tucson) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the southwestern region of the United States. It is a suffragan see of the Metrop ...

, Arizona, on May 7, 1961. He then served as an

associate pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

at Immaculate Conception Parish in Douglas, Arizona. In 1964, O'Brien was transferred to territory that would later become the

Diocese of Phoenix The Diocese of Phoenix ( la, Dioecesis Phoenicensis; es, Diócesis de Phoenix) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory or diocese in the state of Arizona in the United States. It was established on December 2, 1969, when it was split off ...

, as an associate pastor at St. Theresa Parish in Phoenix and later at St. Gregory Parish. He was named pastor of St. Catherine Parish in Phoenix in 1979, and also served as vicar general for the diocese.

Bishop of Phoenix

On November 9, 1981, O'Brien was appointed the third bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on January 6, 1982 from John Paul II himself, with Archbishops Eduardo Somalo and Lucas Neves serving as

co-consecrators 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, ...

, in Rome. He was formally installed as bishop of Phoenix on January 18, 1982, and selected as his episcopal motto, "To Build Up the Body of Christ." During his tenure, O'Brien earned a reputation as a successful fundraiser, builder of schools, and advocate for the poor. He was also instrumental in persuading John Paul II and Mother Teresa to make their respective visits to Phoenix in 1987 and 1989. Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he formerly chaired the Committee on Marriage and Family.

Sexual abuse scandal

In 1990, O'Brien oversaw the development and implementation of a diocesan policy to investigate sexual abuse cases involving priests. The policy was revised in 1995 and 1998, with many of its policies being adopted in the 2002

Dallas Charter There have been many lawsuits, criminal prosecutions, and scandals over sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy in the United States of America. The issue of child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests was first publicized in 1985 when a Louisia ...

. In 2002, Maricopa County prosecutors initiated a grand jury investigation into charges of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the diocese of Phoenix. O'Brien was a target of that investigation for allegedly covering-up allegations against other priests. The investigation ended when O'Brien admitted he had sheltered abusive priests. He agreed to cede his authority over diocesan sexual abuse policy in exchange for immunity from indictment for obstruction of justice. On August 4, 2017, it was announced that a civil lawsuit was filed against O'Brien over allegations that he sexually molested a boy on several occasions at parishes in Phoenix and Goodyear, Arizona, from 1977 to 1982.

Hit-and-run accident

On June 14, 2003, O'Brien was driving home from a

confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

ceremony when his vehicle struck a 43-year-old pedestrian named Jim Reed. O'Brien drove away from the accident scene without stopping, as required by law. Reed subsequently died from injuries. A driver behind O'Brien reported O'Brien's license plate number to the police. Police discovered a dent in a fender and a crack in the windshield of O'Brien's Buick Park Avenue. O'Brien said he did not report the accident because he thought he had hit a dog, cat, or rock. He was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident and released on $45,000 bond.

Resignation and legacy

Pope John Paul II accepted O'Brien's resignation as bishop of Phoenix on June 18, 2003. On February 17, 2004, after a three-and-a-half-week-long trial, O'Brien was found guilty of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. On March 26, 2004, he was sentenced to four years' probation and 1,000 hours of community service, and required to surrender his driver's license for five years. He was the first American Catholic bishop to be convicted of a felony. O'Brien later asked for travel time to be deducted from his 1,000 hours and for flexibility in the number of hours he must serve each month. In November 2011, the Catholic Community Foundation of Phoenix announced that it was giving O'Brien its faith honoree award. When news of the award became public, a controversy emerged over it. A few days later, O'Brien declined the award. The foundation, stating that it did not anticipate the adverse public reaction, wrote an apology to the community. Thomas O'Brien died in Phoenix on August 26, 2018 following complications from Parkinson's disease.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix Official Site

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Thomas J. 1935 births 2018 deaths People from Indianapolis Roman Catholic bishops of Phoenix Neurological disease deaths in Arizona Deaths from Parkinson's disease Catholics from Indiana American people convicted of manslaughter