| Styles of Thomas J. O'Brien |
|
|---|---|
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Monsignor |
| Posthumous style | not applicable |
Thomas Joseph O'Brien (born November 29, 1935) is a former American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Phoenix from 1982 to 2003.
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O'Brien was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and attended St. Meinrad Seminary. Feeling a call to the priesthood from an early age,[1] he was ordained for the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona, on May 7, 1961.[2] He then served as an associate pastor at Immaculate Conception Church in Douglas.
O'Brien was later transferred to the Diocese of Phoenix in 1964, as an associate pastor at St. Theresa Church and later at St. Gregory Church. He was named pastor of St. Catherine Church in Phoenix in 1979, and also served as vicar general for the Diocese.[1]
On November 9, 1981, O'Brien was appointed the third Bishop of Phoenix by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on January 6, 1982 from John Paul II himself, with Archbishops Eduardo Martínez Somalo and Lucas Moreira Neves, OP, serving as co-consecrators, in Rome. He was formally installed as Bishop of Phoenix on the following January 18, and selected as his episcopal motto, "To Build Up the Body of Christ."[3]
During his tenure, O'Brien earned a reputation as a successful fundraiser, builder of schools, and advocate for the poor.[1] He was also 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 formerly chaired the Committee on Marriage and Family.
In 2002, Maricopa County prosecutors initiated a grand jury investigation into charges of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the diocese of Phoenix. Bishop O'Brien was a target of that investigation for allegedly covering-up allegations against other priests. The prosecution ended when, inter alia, O'Brien agreed to cede his authority over diocesan sexual abuse policy. [4]
On June 14, 2003, less than two weeks after signing the sexual abuse agreement with prosecutors, O'Brien struck and killed 43-year-old Jim Reed in a hit-and-run car accident.[5] A driver behind O'Brien reported O'Brien's license plate number to the police.[6] Police also discovered a dent in a fender and a crack in the windshield of the bishop's Buick Park Avenue.[5] O'Brien later claimed he did not report the accident because he thought he had hit a dog, cat, or rock. O'Brien was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident and released on $45,000 bond.[5] He resigned as Bishop on June 18, 2003.[2]
On February 17, 2004, O'Brien was found guilty of leaving the scene of a fatal accident after a three-and-a-half-week-long trial.[6] On March 26, 2004, he was sentenced to four years' probation and 1,000 hours of community service, and required to surrender his driver's license for five years.[7] 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.[8]
In November 2011, the Catholic Community Foundation of Phoenix announced that it was giving O'Brien its faith honoree award.[9] When news of the intended award became public, there was outrage that the Foundation would honor a bishop who resigned in disgrace, had admitted involvement in the sexual abuse scandal, and who had been convicted of the felony of hit-and-run involving death. A few days later, O'Brien declined the award, and Foundation, stating that it did not anticipate the adverse public reaction, issued a formal written apology to the community.[10]
| Preceded by James Steven Rausch |
Bishop of Phoenix 1982–2003 |
Succeeded by Thomas J. Olmsted |