Cork man shot in LA was a reluctant bishop, but an authentically generous person
Bishop David O’Connell leading a non-denominational memorial service at the Saint Cornelius Catholic Church in California in 2020. Picture: Apu GOMES/AFP via Getty Images
David O’Connell never wanted to be a bishop. A man of his people, he would have preferred to remain a priest at one with his flock.
A humanitarian, a community builder, a peacemaker — he tried to make a difference to the many lives he touched.
For years, that work was in south Los Angeles on gang intervention — rebuilding trust, brokering peace between residents and police following the violent 1992 uprising after a jury acquitted four white LA police officers in the beating of Rodney King.
Twenty years later, it was in San Gabriel Valley bringing a community together to rebuild a mission there destroyed in an arson attack.
More recently, he spearheaded Catholic efforts in the region to work with immigrant children and families from Central America.
Loved for his passion and compassion, those emotions turned to shock and disbelief last weekend after Bishop Dave, as he was affectionately known, was found fatally shot in the bedroom of his home in Hacienda Heights about 30km east of downtown LA. He had been shot multiple times.
On Wednesday, Carlos Medina, the husband of O’Connell’s housekeeper, was charged with the 69-year-old’s murder.
Medina, who had carried out work at the bishop’s home, and was arrested Monday by a Swat team.
LA County District Attorney George Gascón said Medina was charged with one count of murder with a special allegation that he personally used a firearm.
“Charging Mr Medina will never repair the tremendous harm that was caused by this callous act, but it does take us one step closer to accountability,” Gascón said. If found guilty, he faces 35 years to life in prison.
In his community, there are tears for the life lost. Tears for the work he carried out among LA’s most disenfranchised and most poor. Tears for the cooperation he engaged in with higher ranks of society including the police, politicians, non-governmental organisations, and educators, which has been lost forever.
And tears from all those who fell under the spell of the charismatic man who grew up in Brooklodge, Glanmire, Co Cork, and who made his home in LA.
“I have never met anyone like Bishop Dave. He did not want to be a bishop,” said his friend and attorney Linda Dakin-Grimm.
“He wanted to be with the people he served as a pastor.
For Linda, evidence of the goodness of Bishop Dave is everywhere. But she says one case in particularly comes to mind — that of a family from Guatemala.
Fernando and Cleivi Jerez went to the US four years ago with their three daughters, after their teenage son was murdered in their home country. Under the Family Separation Policy introduced under the Trump administration in 2018, Fernando was imprisoned and deported to Guatemala.
This was after he was separated from his then 12-year-old daughter on the US-Mexican border. They had become separated from Cleivi and their other two daughters. Linda says the daughter who was with him as they tried to cross the border was “torn from him”.
While he remained in Guatemala after his deportation, his wife and daughters managed to secure asylum in the US and Fernando was allowed return to the US in January 2020 under a court order along with eight other migrants.
In Fernando’s absence, Cleivi and her three daughters had to try to survive in a new country, without her deported husband and her murdered son.
Linda says: “Bishop Dave supported the family all the way through a long case.
“At his request, his long-time friend, Monsignor Jarlath Cunnane (from Sligo) travelled to Guatemala with me to bring the dad back in January 2020 following a different, highly unusual court order.
“Meanwhile, Bishop Dave subsidised the family’s rent and helped them in many ways.”
Cleivi will never forget the kindness shown to her family and says he will always be in their hearts. News of the violent nature of his death has shocked them.
She recalls the first time she met him: “He hugged me and said ‘Don’t worry, I’m praying to God for you and your family. Everything will be fine.’
“We are very grateful to God for putting him in our path when we needed him the most, since he helped us for more than one year with the rent of our house.”
Monsignor Cunnane, now living in Long Beach in California, first met Bishop Dave in All Hallows College in Dublin.
Life-long friends, the pair met for dinner every Thursday evening — including last Thursday-week. Usually opting for breaded fish, the two chose lamb last week for what ultimately was their last weekly meal together, which the Sligo man now refers to as “our last supper”.
He is amazed at the outpouring of grief for his friend, especially the fact that billboards have been placed on LA’s main freeway bearing photos of the late bishop.
“They are tremendously expensive — it is remarkable.”
He says the life of Bishop Dave impacted not just on the “movers and shakers” but also on the “moved and shaken”, referring to his work with immigrants and other vulnerable groups.
“He was able to bring together people who had the power to do things to help those who had the need. We can talk about Bishop O’Connnell as a peacemaker and community leader, which he was, but at his core was this man of profound faith which grew over the years.”
For Ortencia Ramirez, the loss of Bishop Dave is a cruel blow.
She has known him for almost 20 years after becoming involved in an organisation called One LA-IAF which aims to build strong relationships in communities through a network of diverse religious and non-profit institutions across Los Angeles County.
“I was a new leader to the organisation and I was encouraged to join because I felt there was something missing in my life and I was searching for a way to connect my religious life with my communities’ challenges.
“This was the first time I heard the bishop speak and I left the meeting with a better understanding of the important work that was transpiring the possibilities that lay ahead to effectively advocate for every human life.”
She says he worked to listen and learn from his community with a very humble and down-to-Earth manner”.
“His interest in the welfare of all people was felt by me and many others and we’ll remember Bishop Dave for his commitment to fighting for justice and we want to invite more parishes and priests to continue organising for those most marginalised among us.”
As the daughter of an immigrant family, Ortencia accepted an invitation to become a member of the immigration taskforce headed by Bishop Dave in LA.
Having experienced at first-hand the struggles and injustices that many are faced with, she said: “I realised the importance of open communication with immigrants and the efforts organised by men like the bishop to create relationships based on mutual understanding and respect in our communities.”
A year ago, Fr Albert Avenido did not know Bishop Dave. He had heard his name, but had never met him.
He last met him at a deanery meeting last Friday, where he told pastors that he was free to help in parishes on Ash Wednesday. He committed to a 6.30am Mass in one parish and to a 9.30am Mass in Fr Albert’s local school.
Bishop Dave was a very special person, said Fr Albert, who acknowledges that he only got to know him in the months since he moved to the San Gabriel area last July.
But he says: “In that short period of time, he has been a great and very loving, accommodating father to me.
“He was truly a great shepherd not only for the people of God but to his priests.” Fr Albert said Bishop Dave always saw “the face of God in all of us”, no matter where a person came from.
He and the Knights of Columbus, a local Catholic group, has committed to holding a vigil each evening at 6pm outside the home of Bishop Dave.
He says: “This is my personal expression of my sorrow at the untimely demise of Bishop O’Connell. Before my priesthood here in San Gabriel region, I only knew of him as a bishop.
“But our personal relationship after our meetings and chats led to him being a very good friend of mine — not just a friend but a father really, like a pastor or a good shepherd. Although it may be a very short time compared to other people’s experiences of him, it is a very very precious relationship.”
As the wider O’Connell family prepares to travel to America next week for the funeral service, Rev John Woolway, associate pastor at St Pancratius Church in Lakewood, shared his own memory of David O’Connell the priest.
At St Raymond’s Church in Downey, O’Connell arrived at the church while Woolway served an internship there while he was a young priest-to-be.
“He was there in his black cassock. I could tell this guy was cool,” Woolway said.
“This is going to be a good year. And it was. He knew how to make the priesthood fun.”
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