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''His Eminence'' 'Seán Patrick Cardinal O'Malley', OFM Cap, Ph.D (born June 29, 1944) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as the Archbishop of Boston, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2006. O'Malley is also a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, more commonly known as the Capuchins.

Contents

Early life

Episcopacy

Cardinalate

Trivia

External links

References

Early life

Seán Patrick O'Malley was born as 'Patrick O'Malley' in Lakewood, Ohio, the son of Theodore and Mary Louise (née Reidy) O'Malley. O'Malley, his sister, and his older brother grew up in Herman, Pennsylvania. At age 12, he entered St. Fidelis Minor Seminary, a boarding school for students considering joining the Franciscan order, in Butler, Pennsylvania. While there, in addition to studying the normal high school subjects, he also studied Spanish, Greek, German, and Hebrew, and he was active in theater.
On July 14, 1965, at the age of 21, O'Malley professed his vows in the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and took the name 'Seán' in honor of St. John the Apostle. After he was ordained Deacon he spent a brief period in Easter Island, Chile. He was ordained a priest on August 29, 1970, at age 26, by Bishop John McDowell, an auxiliary of Pittsburgh.
After graduating from St. Fidelis, he attended Capuchin College in Washington, D.C. and The Catholic University of America, where he is now a member of the Board of Trustees. He graduated from CUA with a master's degree in religious education and a Ph.D. in Spanish and Portuguese literature. He once said of his ''alma mater'', "I have a great affection for Catholic University. I studied there, received my doctorate there and even taught there for a couple of years. It’s always a joy to go back to see the progress that they have made."^[1] O'Malley served as a professor at The Catholic University from 1969 to 1973.
In 1973, he was asked to minister to Latinos living in the D.C. area. He founded Centro Catolico Hispano (Hispanic Catholic Center), an organization which provided educational, medical and legal help to immigrants. He opened a Spanish bookstore and founded the first Spanish newspaper in the D.C. area. In 1978, William Cardinal Baum appointed him episcopal vicar for the Portuguese, Hispanic, and Haitian communities, and became the executive director of the archdiocesan Office of Social Ministry. He was also named knight commander of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator in 1974 by Portugal for his service to its people.

Episcopacy

O'Malley was appointed coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Saint Thomas on May 30, 1984 by Pope John Paul II. He received his epsicopal consecration on the following August 2 by Bishop Edward John Harper, CSSR, with Archbishop James Hickey and Bishop Eugene Marino, SSJ, serving as co-consecrators. He served as coadjutor for one year and then succeeded Bishop Harper as Bishop of Saint Thomas on October 16, 1985, upon Harper's resignation. While in the Virgin Islands, he worked with the homeless, and opened a home for people with AIDS. He was made an honorary chaplain of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 1991.
On June 16, 1992, following a series of sexual abuse allegations leveled against Father James Porter, O'Malley was chosen to head the Diocese of Fall River. He was installed on the following August 11. While Bishop of Fall River, O'Malley settled 101 abuse claims and initiated a zero-tolerance policy against sexual abuse. He also instituted one of the first comprehensive sexual abuse policies in the Roman Catholic Church. He also worked closely with the Portuguese and Hispanic population, which make up a large per-centage of the Catholics in the diocese. In 1998 John Paul II appointed O'Malley to the Special Assembly for Oceania of the Synod of Bishops.
- After serving in Fall River for ten years, he was appointed Bishop of Palm Beach in Florida, on September 3, 2002. He was installed on the following October 19. The appointment came after the diocese had been rocked by revelations of sexual abuse against two of its former bishops: Joseph Symons (resigned on 1998 after admitting he molested five boys while he was a pastor) and Symons' successor Anthony O'Connell (resigned in 2002 after admitting to molesting an underage seminarian).
At age 59, just nine months after arriving in Palm Beach, O'Malley was called once again to Massachusetts. He was appointed Archbishop of Boston on July 1, 2003, upon the resignation of Bernard Cardinal Law after criticism of Law's management of the sexual abuse scandals. O'Malley was installed in Boston on the following July 30.

Cardinalate

Pope Benedict XVI elevated O'Malley and 14 others to the rank of cardinal in the consistory on March 24, 2006. O'Malley was one of two Americans to be elevated on that day (the other was Archbishop William Levada, who succeeded Pope Benedict as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2005). The Pope announced the appointments during an audience on the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter at Antioch on February 22, 2006. O'Malley was created Cardinal Priest with the title of ''Santa Maria della Vittoria''. In May 2006, he was named as a member of both the Congregation for the Clergy and the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in the Roman Curia.
On September 19, 2006, O'Malley became the first and, as of December 2006, only cardinal with a personal blog, www.CardinalSeansBlog.org. As of Christmas 2006 he began offering a regular podcast as well.^[2] He views the podcasts "as yet another tool [he] can use to reach the young people in our Church who more and more are turning to the Internet for their information."^[3]

Trivia

★ As a Capuchin, O'Malley wears the religious habit of his order for everyday functions, with his status as a cardinal denoted only by the wearing of the scarlet zuchetto, the ring and the pectoral cross, the latter of which he has worn since his days as a Bishop. As a Cardinal, he can also wear the scarlet cassock and white surplice, but has rarely done so.

★ At the time of his elevation into the College of Cardinals, he joked that the scarlet robes that are customary for the "red hat" ceremony would be useful in the case he was invited to go quail hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney.

★ O'Malley is the only Capuchin member of the College of Cardinals.^[4]

★ He has also served several positions in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and as Apostolic visitor for many Central American and Caribbean seminaries.

External links

★ O'Malley's Blog

★ Boston Archdiocese page for Archbishop Seán O'Malley

★ Photographs of Archbishop O'Malley at March 19, 2005 Boston Men's Conference

★ Catholic Hierarchy profile of Archbishop O'Malley

★ Catholic Pages

★ Biography of Archbishop O'Malley

★ Examination of the ring of O'Malley with pictures

References

1. Erin Go Bragh, Cardinal Sean's Blog
2.
3.
4. January 18, 2007; ''Cardinali appartenenti ad Istituti di vita consacrata o Società di vita apostolica'' (Italian); Holy See Press Office; url accessed February 3, 2007