Martin John O'Connor

Martin John O'Connor (May 18, 1900 – December 1, 1986) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as rector of the Pontifical North American College from 1946–1964 and president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications from 1948–1971.

Biography

Early life and education Martin O'Connor was born on May 18, 1900, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Martin John and Belinda Catherine (née Caffrey) O'Connor. His parents died when he was young. He received his early education at James Madison Elementary School, but was later transferred to the district's administration building to attend advanced classes. O'Connor entered St. Thomas High School in Scranton at age 12, and enrolled at St. Thomas College three years later. While a student, he enlisted in the U.S Army after the United States entered World War I. He earned a Doctor of Theology degree from the Pontifical Urban University in Rome in 1925. Following his return to Scranton, he was assigned as a curate at St. Peter's Cathedral Parish, serving there from 1925 to 1927.

Auxiliary Bishop of Scranton On November 14, 1942, O'Connor was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Scranton and titular bishop of Thespiae by Pope Pius XII. having supervised its construction of new campus on Janiculum Hill in Rome. Supposedly, O'Connor once said that his mission was "to educate others in gracious dining and papal protocol," to which U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Joseph Kennedy Sr. responded, "Don't be such an ass." O'Connor allegedly disapproved of Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi's appointment as apostolic delegate to the United States.

O'Connor was raised to titular archbishop of Laodicea in Syria on September 5, 1959. O'Connor attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965. As head of the secretariat, he drafted a constitution dealing with the press, motion pictures, radio, and television. In September 1963, in response to complaints by journalists about the lack of news sources, he was appointed to head a new press committee for the second session of the Council.

Apostolic Nuncio to Malta He became the first Nuncio to Malta on December 15, 1965. According to his Los Angeles Times obituary, "the appointment marked the first time a papal ambassador had been sent to a country in the United Kingdom since the Protestant Reformation 400 years earlier" – although technically, Malta was no longer in the United Kingdom after 1964.

Retirement O'Connor resigned his diplomatic post in May 1969 and his curial post on September 8, 1971. He returned to Pennsylvania in 1980. Martin O'Connor died on December 1, 1986, at Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre at age 86.