Archdiocese announces funeral services for Bishop David O'connell
The Rev. Monsignor Timothy Nichols stood in front of a teary-eyed congregation of more than 500 who gathered Thursday night at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Hacienda Heights, where so many times before Bishop David O’connell had preached. It was here where O’connell’s words sought to heal those who needed to hear them.
But as a week of mourning since O’connell’s slaying neared its end, Nichols had to acknowledge the sudden void, even as he had to find words to console.
“I stand here before you today with ‘un corazón roto,’ a broken heart. My brother priest,” he said.
The shooting of Auxiliary Bishop O’connell, found dead Saturday at his Hacienda Heights home, has sent shockwaves through the Roman Catholic community. And now, with the alleged confession from the gunman, Catholics are focusing their attention anew on grieving and healing. The
Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced Thursday that mourning will culminate with a series of memorial and funeral services next week.
Official funeral services will begin with a 7 p.m. memorial Mass at O’connell’s parish, St. John Vianney, on Wednesday.
Then Thursday, there will be a public viewing from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles. This will be followed by a vigil Mass at 7 p.m. Services will conclude with an 11 a.m. March 3 funeral Mass also at the cathedral.
These official funeral services have been preceded by several memorial and prayer services, including the remembrance Mass at St. John Vianney on Thursday evening, which left several priests and a deacon in tears.
Nichols led the Mass, but even he was still visibly shaken from the death of O’connell.
“I had the difficult moment of seeing bishop in his house at his death. And it is a vision that sticks in your mind,” he said, “We loved him because he was so committed to the Lord. Anyone who knew him felt the power of Jesus in his heart.”
The three official funeral services next week will be led by Archbishop of Los Angeles Jose Gomez, who described O’connell as “man of deep prayer who had a great love for Our Blessed Mother … a peacemaker with a heart for the poor and the immigrant.”
His death devastated Los Angeles’ Catholic community, which has been praying for his soul since news of his killing first broke on Saturday.
This began with vigils at the memorial outside of his Hacienda Heights home and continued with memorial prayer services and nightly novenas — a nine-day period of prayer, typically done to honor, mourn, and pray for the dead. The first novena took place on Sunday evening and attracted a crowd 200 strong, said Mark Edward Padilla, president for the San Gabriel Valley Knights of Columbus, who helps lead the bilingual rosary prayer at the novenas.
Monday, the novenas migrated to St. John Vianney’s due to safety concerns over large groups gathering at the memorial. Thursday, despite wind, rain and hail, more than 60 people came to the fifth novena at the church’s O’callagan Center.
Afterward they joined the crowd of more than 500 worshippers inside the church for the special remembrance Mass.
Among those at the novena was Christian Gomez, who traveled from downtown Los Angeles to pray for the late bishop.
“I think participating in the novena is helping the community heal because I know a lot of people personally that knew Bishop O’connell really well and he’s been really important to their faith growth but also connected to their community,” he said. “We all feel like he left us too soon.”
Maria Mendoza, who has been a parishioner at St. John Vianney for more than 25 years, was attending the novena for a third night.
“The novena brings us a bit of peace, and we get to reflect on how the world is that horrible things like this are happening,” she said in Spanish. “Yes we’re going to miss our bishop, you always feel peace when you have someone who is so close to God with us here. He’ll be missed.”
Padilla will continue to lead the novenas, alongside fellow members of the Knights of Columbus, every evening at 6 p.m. until Monday.
“I went with him to Nogales, Mexico, to walk the trails of the immigrants, we did things for our Lady of Guadalupe in the big procession in East L.A., he was a pro-lifer so I’ve prayed at many abortion clinics with him, many priests don’t do that, much less a bishop, so he really stepped out of a comfort zone,” Padilla said. “He was really active in our region and beyond.”
Nichols on Thursday was full of memories of O’connell.
“He loved everyone, passionate, funny, a leader, champion of the poor,” he said.
“Stand up comedian,” he said, prompting the teary-eyed crowd to giggled even amid the tears.
At the end of the homily, the congregation erupted in applause.