Bishop David M. O’Connell was born April 21, 1955, in Philadelphia. Bishop O’Connell, a priest of the Eastern Province of the Congregation of the Mission, also known as the Vincentians, grew up in Langhorne, Pa. He is one of four sons of June O’Connell, a resident of Langhorne, and the late Arthur J. O’Connell. His brothers, Arthur Jr., Dennis and Daniel, all reside in the Philadelphia area.

His family are long-time members of Our Lady of Grace Parish, Penndel, Pa. He attended the parish grammar school, where he was taught by the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters. Knowing from an early age that he wished to pursue the priesthood, Bishop O’Connell attended the Vincentians’ St. Joseph Preparatory High School, Princeton. He continued his Vincentian education in Niagara University, New York, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1978.

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. On May 29, 1982, he was ordained a priest of the Congregation of the Mission in Mary Immaculate Seminary by Bishop Joseph McShea of the Diocese of Allentown.

Following ordination, Bishop O’Connell’s first assignment was as director of student activities and faculty in Archbishop Wood High School, Warminster, Pa., where he served from 1982 to 1985. He then pursued studies in canon law at The Catholic University of America, Washington, obtaining a licentiate in 1987 and then a doctorate in canon law in 1990. He has since received numerous honorary academic degrees from various colleges and universities.

While working toward his canon law degrees, Bishop O’Connell also served as registrar and assistant professor of canon law, theology and philosophy in Mary Immaculate Seminary. In 1990 he joined St. John’s University, New York, where he served as academic dean for the following eight years.

During his time at St. John’s, he held a variety of positions, including professor of theology and religious studies, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, academic dean and dean of faculty of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and assistant to legal counsel. He also spent one year simultaneously serving as interim academic vice president of Niagara University.

In 1998, then-Father O’Connell was named the 14th president of The Catholic University of America. 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 to host the pope at CUA, where he delivered an address to Catholic educators. In the fall of 2009, then-Father O’Connell announced his plan to resign from CUA in the summer of 2010.

On June 4, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed then-Father O’Connell as coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Trenton. On December 1, 2010, Bishop O’Connell was appointed the 10th Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton.
In addition to serving on several committees in the Eastern Province of the Vincentians, Bishop O’Connell has been a member of the order’s provincial council since 2008. He is currently a consultor to the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education and spent five years as a member of the Bishops’ and Presidents’ Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He also has served as an ecclesiastical judge and canonical consultant in the Dioceses of Scranton, Harrisburg and Birmingham.
Bishop O’Connell has also earned a national reputation for his writing and media appearances. He has written extensively on Pope John Paul II’s apostolic constitution on Catholic higher education, “Ex Corde Ecclesiae.” He is a frequent guest on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” and has appeared on many other national news programs as an expert on Catholic issues.