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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. 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 List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Indiana. He 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 Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

for the Diocese of Tucson,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, on May 7, 1961. He then served as an associate pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish in Douglas, Arizona. In 1964, O'Brien was transferred to territory that would later become the Diocese of Phoenix, 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 or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

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 (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. 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, 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 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 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 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 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 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 he was 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. 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 Deaths from Parkinson's disease in Arizona Catholics from Indiana American people convicted of manslaughter