Thomas Joseph O'Brien (November 29, 1935 – August 26, 2018) was an American prelate of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. 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 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 ...

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 Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, 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 Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States that lies in the north-west to south-east running Sulpher Springs Valley. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico at Agua Prieta and a history of mining. The population was 16,531 in ...

. 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 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's ...

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 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 ...

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

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 A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

, "To Build Up the Body of Christ." During his tenure, O'Brien earned a reputation as a successful fundraiser, builder of

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

, and advocate for the poor. He was also instrumental in persuading John Paul II and

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was bo ...

to make their respective visits to Phoenix in 1987 and 1989. Within the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...

, 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. In 2002,

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about 6 ...

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 Obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, is an act that involves unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investigators, or other gov ...

. 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 Goodyear (O'odham: ''Valin Thak'') is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is a suburb of Phoenix and at the 2020 census had a population of 95,294, up from 65,275 in 2010 and 18,911 in 2000. It was the third-fastest-growing ci ...

, 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 The Buick Park Avenue is a full-size luxury car built by Buick. The nameplate was first used in 1975 for an appearance option package on the Electra 225 Limited. It became an Electra trim level in 1978 and its own model starting in the 1991 model ...

. 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 An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researcher ...

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 In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

, O'Brien was found guilty of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. On March 26, 2004, he was sentenced to four years'

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

and 1,000 hours of

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

, and required to surrender his

driver's license A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public ...

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 Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

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