Dennis Patrick O'Neil (January 16, 1940 – October 17, 2003) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the

Diocese of San Bernardino The Diocese of San Bernardino ( la, Dioecesis Sancti Bernardi, es, Diócesis de San Bernardino) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese in Southern California. Erected by Pope Paul VI on July 14, 1978, and its jurisdiction extends ...

in California from 2001 until his death in 2003

Biography

Early life

Born on January 16, 1940, in

Fremont, Nebraska Fremont is a city and county seat of Dodge County in the eastern portion of the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. The population was 27,141 at the 2020 census. Fremont is the home of Midland University. History From the 1830 ...

, Dennis O'Neil grew up in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. He attended St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, California. O'Neil was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

a priest for the

Archdiocese of Los Angeles The Archdiocese of Los Angeles ( la, Archidiœcesis Angelorum in California, es, Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in th ...

on April 30, 1966. After serving pastoral positions in the archdiocese from 1966 to 1979, he spent five years on a missionary assignment in the Diocese of Juneau in Alaska. After returning to Los Angeles, O'Neil became administrator and pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in 1984. He served on the archdiocesan clergy personnel board from 1990 to 1998, and was appointed pastor of St. Emydius Parish in Lynewood, California in 1998.

Auxiliary Bishop of San Bernardino

On January 16, 2001, O'Neil was appointed 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 ...

as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San Bernardino and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as M� ...

. He was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on March 27, 2001. Bishop Gerald Barnes was his principal consecrator, and Bishops

Gabino Zavala Gabino Zavala (born September 7, 1951) is a Mexican-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Zavala served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from 1994 until 2012. Zavala resigned at the request of Pope Benedi ...

and

Stephen Blaire Stephen Edward Blaire (December 22, 1941 – June 18, 2019) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the fifth Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton, Bishop of Stockton from March 16, 1999, until January 23, 2018. Biography ...

were his principal co-consecrators. Dennis O'Neil died of an apparent

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on October 17, 2003, at the age of 63.

References

Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino People from Fremont, Nebraska St. John's Seminary (California) alumni 1940 births 2003 deaths 21st-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops Religious leaders from California Catholics from Nebraska 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests {{US-RC-bishop-stub