The Coadjutor- Bishop of Armidale

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 21, 21 May 1903, Page 4

The Coadjutor- Bishop of Armidale

m,.m ,- 8 4 h \\ R Re, cV \ Mffr> O'Connor Was conseVl' w -i t-o^Jutor-bii.hop of Armidale on Sunday Ki'mm.n. , r< i coi : vmo^y being performed by his Eminence Cai dinal Moran. It is needless to tent i, uitn Un ♦». v " mentte congregation was pre-t-m.i «it»Y ?s? s a lul P° s »nff ceremony, the first of its u\t i i C^ ed m lmulale . and numbers had to be re.vi Uttunce -, ln addiUon to the consecrating pref i ul!h Weie , al f pi JSSJ 5S , ent the Ri S ht v - J*'- Torregmth 'n f ? ]1 Ol Annidale : the Right Rev. Dr. Dovlt, liishop ol Lismore ; the Right Rev Dr Dwyer Coadju-toi-Bishop of Maitland, the Right Rev. Dr 3 Dunne B - ftht W m ' and a large nu^ber of priests, some M S^fLv ' v C( ? mO lrOm long di stances. The Very Rev. SmS^P yA.Pr(I"y A.P r(l " g , ave tes timony of his esteem for s,>r PA? > ° Conn ° r . 1 by trav ellmg 700 miles to represent Uoulburn on the auspicious occasion. His Eminence the Cardinal was tne celebrant of the Mass, and m. C , °nn a ulOnulu lOnul selmo . u was Pleached by the Right Rev. Algr. O Donovan, V.F., Mudgee. After the Mass Bishop O'Connor was presented with an address, episcopal \estments, and a crozier from the priests oi the diocese. The laity also presented an address, vyhich was accompanied by a purse of 400 guineas Among the other gifts received by the newlyconseciated prelate were a mitre from Bishop Doyle • episcopal ring and pectoral cross— beautiful specimens of the goldsmith's art— from Bishop Torreggiani ; Ursuline Convent, lamworth, a massive episcopal chain ; Dominican Convent, Tamworth, gold pectoral cross ;Convent of Mercy, Gunnedah, gold mitre ; Sisters of St. Joseph complete set oi episcopal vestments ; past and present pupils of the, Ursuline Convent, Armidale, a magnificent episcopal ring. Dean O'Haran marked the occasion by the presentation of a magnificent throne and faldstool ithe first to occupy both, by the way, being Cardinal Moran on Sunday). They are beautiful examples of the wood-carver's handicraft ; and the throne, for which a magnificent carved canopy had been locally made from a design by the Ursuline Sisters, was an object of much admiration (says the ' Freeman's Journal ') Later on a banquet, provided by the Catholic ladies of Armidale, was held in the Town Hall. Bishop O'Connor who presided, had on his right his Eminence Cardinal Moran and on his left Bishop Torreggiani The Right Rev. Dr. O'Connor was born in Clonea County Waterford, li eland, in 1848, and received his preparatory education from the Christian Brothers Having shown signs of a religious vocation, although a commercial life had been proposed for him, he next entered the collegiate seminary, Dungarvan, wheie he studied the classics ; and later on completed his ecclesiastical course at All Hallows' College, Dublin. He was ordained priest on September 19, 1875, by the Right Rev. Dr. M'Devitt. Bishop of Raphoe, for the diocese ot Ainudale. Jt is a remarkable coincidence that the in-fat two priests ordained lor the diocese — Dr Doyle Bishop ol Lismore, and Dr O'Connor, Coadiutor-Bishop ol Armidale— were class companions in college , labored together in the pai ish of Armidale for upwaids of thiee veais ; and are now Bishops ol the aiea which then compnsed the diocese of Armidale, and which was later on divul.ed into the two sees ol Armidale and Lismore _l)r. O'Connor arrived in the city of Armidale in July, 387(i. and there he has laboied unremittingly and suecesslully ever save As a reward lor his and Father l'ovle's fruitful labois, their good Bishop ( Hr. Torreggiani) appointed them Deans ol Ainudale and Lismore uspectively in 188<t Two \eais later Di. () Connor was appointed Vuar-Genei.il of the diocese ol Armidale in JBhN a weil-nier ited holiday was granted him, when ho visited the old land which he has alwa\s loved so well. On that occasion the good people ol Armidale show eel t)ii"r appreciation ol his services by presenting him with a pMfe containing £.'{.")O ]k> returned to the scene of his laliois in 181)9 ; and in September, 1900, when he celebrated his sacerdotal silver jubilee, he i ex-en ed another well-filled purse of so\eieig'ns with the congratulations of his i eople , and his Holiness the Pope, on the lecommendation of ins saintly and i evened Bishop, conten ed on him the nigniiv ol Domestic- JMelate In the lollovving .year Dr O'Connor had the distinguished honor ol being the fust priest in Australasia to icceive from the. Sovereign I'ontill the gold cross of the first-class ' Pro Ecclesio. et Pontilice ' . and now all these honors have culminated in his appointment as Coadiutor-Bishop to the \enerable Dr. TorreLrgiani, to whom lor so many veais he has been an able lieutenant. The new lv-corisoci a led Bishop comes of a lcnitical family. Thioe maternal and two paternal gi and-uncles, thiec uncles, aiu! his only hi other weie rarse'd to the j)i-iesthood His aunt (Mother 1-rancis Mean.v), to whom he is pai ticularly de\oled, is a men her ol the Presentation Convent, Lismoie, Ireland The same characteristic ot the lamily still contini.es, a nephew and a niece laving alieadv consecrated themselves to the serv ic-e e)f God, the former as a prir-st m his native diocese ( \\ati->rlor d), and the Litter as a Sister of the UrsuliiK' coinmunitv, Ainudale • while three young nephews are at present piopainig tor the jji lesthood in Waterford.