Bishop of Trenton
Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M., 10th Bishop of Trenton, and former president of The Catholic University of America, was born April 21, 1955, in Philadelphia. Bishop O'Connell's eldest brother Arthur Jr., died April 24, 2021; his two surviving brothers, Dennis and Daniel, reside in the region. Bishop O'Connell prepared for the priesthood in Mary Immaculate Seminary, Northampton, Pa., where he received a master of divinity degree in 1981 and a master's degree in moral theology in 1983. Following ordination, Bishop (then-Father) O'Connell's first assignment was as faculty member and director of student activities and at Archbishop Wood High School, Warminster, Pa., where he served from 1982 to 1985. In spring 1998, Father O'Connell was named the 14th president of The Catholic University of America in Washington., D.C. Among the many highlights of his presidency was the opportunity to serve as a member of the planning committee for Pope Benedict XVI's pastoral visit to the United States in April 2008 and then to host the Pope at CUA who delivered an address there to Catholic educators. At the request of the Archdiocese of Washington, the Holy See also bestowed on him its “Pro Ecclesiastical et Pontifices Medal.” On June 4, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Father O'Connell as Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton. He was ordained to the episcopacy by Bishop John M. Smith in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, on July 30, 2010. When Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Bishop Smith on Dec. 1, 2010, Bishop O'Connell automatically succeeded him as the 10th Bishop of Trenton. In October of 2012, as part of the “Year of Faith” proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop O'Connell convened the first Eucharistic Congress held in New Jersey, bringing together some 20,000 Catholics of the Diocese of Trenton for worship, learning and prayer. In April of 2016, Bishop O'Connell presented a proposal to the Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Bishops in Rome for the elevation of St. Robert Bellarmine Church, Freehold, to the dignity of a co-cathedral. The process came to fruition on Feb. 19, 2017, when Bishop O'Connell and Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, signed the "acta," the official document of elevation during Mass.