Mark William O'Connell (born June 25, 1964) is a Canadian-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts since 2016. He has been the

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

and moderator of the curia of the archdiocese since 2023.

Biography

Early life

Mark O'Connell was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

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 York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

in Toronto and later at Boston College in Boston, Massachusetts The family returned to

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

when Mark O'Connell was age 12. He graduated from

Dover-Sherborn High School Dover-Sherborn High School, or DSHS, is a regional public high school in the town of Dover, Massachusetts, United States. It serves students from the towns of Dover and Sherborn, and is the senior school of the Dover-Sherborn Public School Distr ...

in Dover, Massachusetts, in 1982. O'Connell earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and philosophy at Boston College in 1986 and studied for the priesthood at Saint John's Seminary in Boston.

Priesthood

O'Connell was ordained into the priesthood 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 Salem State University (Salem State or SSU) is a public university in Salem, Massachusetts. Established in 1854, it is the oldest and largest institute of higher education on the North Shore and is part of the state university system in Massa ...

, all in Massachusetts. O'Connell undertook studies in

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

starting in 1997 at the Pontifical Athenaeum of the Holy Cross in Rome, completing his licentiate degree in 1999 and his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in 2002. O'Connell's dissertation was titled ''The Mobility of Secular Clerics and Incardination''. 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. From 2009 to 2012, O'Connell served as a senior consultor to the

Canon Law Society of America The Canon Law Society of America or CLSA is a professional association dedicated to the promotion of both the study and the application of canon law in the Catholic Church. The Society's membership includes over fifteen hundred men and women who ...

. He has also served on the faculty of Saint John's Seminary and 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 WQOM (1060 AM) is a radio station broadcasting Catholic radio programming in the Boston market. The station is owned by Holy Family Communications and is licensed to Natick, Massachusetts. History The station first began operation November 1 ...

in Boston.

Auxiliary Bishop of Boston

On June 3, 2016,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed O'Connell as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston and titular bishop of

Gigthi Gigthi was a town in the late Roman province of Tripolitania, which became a residential episcopal see. It corresponded to present-day Djorf-Bou-Ghara.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN, 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 902 ...

Tripolitana Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

. He was consecrated on August 24, 2016, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston by Cardinal Seán O'Malley. As auxiliary bishop, O'Connell was assigned the north region of the archdiocese as well as pastor of St. Theresa Parish in

North Reading, Massachusetts North Reading (pronounced, as is with Reading as () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,554 at the 2020 census. History The area was first settled in 1651 when the town of Reading received a special ...

until December 31, 2022. Since January 1, 2023, he has served as vicar general and moderator of the curia of the archdiocese.

References

External links