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In his [[homily]] during a [[Labor Day]] Mass at St. Patrick's in 1986, O'Connor expressed his strong commitment to organized labor: <blockquote>[S]o many of our freedoms in this country, so much of the building up of society, is precisely attributable to the union movement, a movement that I personally will defend despite the weakness of some of its members, despite the corruption with which we are all familiar that pervades all society, a movement that I personally will defend with my life.... <ref name=NH1>{{cite book |title= John Cardinal O'Connor: at the Storm Center of a Changing American Catholic Church|last= Hentoff|first= Nat|authorlink= |coauthors= |year= 1988|publisher= Charles Scribner's Sons |location= New York |isbn= 0-684-18944-5 |page= 258|pages= |url= |quote=}}</ref></blockquote>
In his [[homily]] during a [[Labor Day]] Mass at St. Patrick's in 1986, O'Connor expressed his strong commitment to organized labor: <blockquote>[S]o many of our freedoms in this country, so much of the building up of society, is precisely attributable to the union movement, a movement that I personally will defend despite the weakness of some of its members, despite the corruption with which we are all familiar that pervades all society, a movement that I personally will defend with my life.... <ref name=NH1>{{cite book |title= John Cardinal O'Connor: at the Storm Center of a Changing American Catholic Church|last= Hentoff|first= Nat|authorlink= |coauthors= |year= 1988|publisher= Charles Scribner's Sons |location= New York |isbn= 0-684-18944-5 |page= 258|pages= |url= |quote=}}</ref></blockquote>

In 1987, when the [[National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians|television broadcast employees union]] was on strike against [[the National Broadcasting Company|NBC]], a non-union crew from NBC appeared at the Cardinal's residence to cover one of O'Connor's [[press conferences]]. O'Connor declined to admit them, directing his secretary to "tell them they're not invited."<ref name=NH1>{{cite book |title= John Cardinal O'Connor: at the Storm Center of a Changing American Catholic Church|last= Hentoff|first= Nat|authorlink= |coauthors= |year= 1988|publisher= Charles Scribner's Sons |location= New York |isbn= 0-684-18944-5 |page= 222-23|pages= |url= |quote=}}</ref>


Following his death, [[Drug, Hospital, and Health Care Employees Union|SEIU 1199]], published a 12-page tribute to O'Connor, calling him "the patron saint of working people" and describing his support for low-wage and other workers and his efforts in helping limousine drivers unionize, helping end the strike at [[Daily News (New York)|The Daily News]] in 1990, and pushing for fringe benefits for minimum-wage home health care workers.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03EEDF133AF937A15754C0A9669C8B63 "Union Celebrates O'Connor's Labor Views", ''New York Times'', July 24, 2000]; retrieved 1-2-09</ref>
Following his death, [[Drug, Hospital, and Health Care Employees Union|SEIU 1199]], published a 12-page tribute to O'Connor, calling him "the patron saint of working people" and describing his support for low-wage and other workers and his efforts in helping limousine drivers unionize, helping end the strike at [[Daily News (New York)|The Daily News]] in 1990, and pushing for fringe benefits for minimum-wage home health care workers.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03EEDF133AF937A15754C0A9669C8B63 "Union Celebrates O'Connor's Labor Views", ''New York Times'', July 24, 2000]; retrieved 1-2-09</ref>

Revision as of 20:38, 3 January 2009

Template:Infobox cardinalbiog

Styles of
John Cardinal O'Connor
Reference styleHis Eminence
Spoken styleYour Eminence
Informal styleCardinal
SeeNew York (emeritus)
For the former US Representative from New York, see John J. O'Connor.
For the deceased bishop of Newark, see J. J. O'Connor of Newark.

John Joseph Cardinal O'Connor, (January 15, 1920 – May 3, 2000) was the eleventh bishop (eighth archbishop) of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, serving from 1984 until his death in 2000. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1985.

Early life and education

O'Connor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the fourth of five children born to Thomas O'Connor and Mary Gomble O’Connor.[1] He attended public schools until his junior year of high school, when he enrolled in West Catholic High.[1] After graduating from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, he was ordained a priest on 15 December 1945. He was initially assigned to St. James High School in Chester, Pennsylvania. He obtained a master's degree in advanced ethics from Villanova University and a doctorate in political science at Georgetown University in 1970 where he wrote his dissertation under future United Nations Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick and took classes at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He joined the United States Navy in 1952 as a Korean War chaplain, often entering combat zones in order to perform Mass and administer last rites to soldiers. He rose through the ranks to become rear admiral and chief of Navy chaplains.

Consecration as Bishop

O'Connor was made a Prelate of Honor of His Holiness (monsignor) on 27 October 1966. On 24 April 1979 he was appointed by Pope John Paul II as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services and titular bishop of Cursola; O'Connor was personally consecrated to the episcopate on 27 May 1979 by John Paul II, with Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy and Eduardo Martínez Somalo as co-consecrators, in St. Peter's Basilica. He was named Bishop of Scranton, Pennsylvania on 6 May 1983, and installed in that position on the following 29 June.

Archbishop of New York

On 26 January 1984 O'Connor was appointed to Archbishop of New York, and installed on March 19. He was elevated to Cardinal the following year, with the titular church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo in Rome, the traditional titulus of the Cardinal-Archbishop of New York.

As Archbishop of New York, O'Connor skillfully brought to bear the power and prestige of his office to bear witness to traditional Catholic doctrine.[citation needed] Upon his death, the New York Times called O'Connor "a familiar and towering presence, a leader whose views and personality were forcefully injected into the great civic debates of his time, a man who considered himself a conciliator, but who never hesitated to be a combatant", and one of the Catholic Church's "most powerful symbols on moral and political issues." [2]

Advocacy

O'Connor was a forceful opponent of abortion, human cloning, capital punishment, human trafficking, and unjust war.[3][4] O'Connor believed in protecting all human life, from the unborn to convicts on death row. Inspired by a visit to a concentration camp he decided to found a religious order that would be advocate for the unborn and dying, and dedicated to the sanctity of human life. In 1991 his dream was realized in the Sisters of Life.

Despite his years spent as a Navy chaplain, O'Connor condemned U.S. support for counterrevolutionary guerrilla forces in Central America, questioned spending on new weapons systems, and preached caution in regard to American military actions abroad.[2] In 1998, he questioned whether the United States' cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan were morally justifiable.[5] In 1999, during the Kosovo War, he used his weekly column in the archdiocesan newspaper, Catholic New York, to challenge repeatedly the morality of the NATO's bombing campaign of Yugoslavia,[6] suggesting that it did not meet the Catholic Church's criteria for a just war,[7] and going so far as to ask, "Does the relentless bombing of Yugoslavia prove the power of the Western world or its weakness?"[8] Three years before the 9/11 attacks on New York City, O'Connor insisted that the traditional just war principles must be applied to evaluate the morality of military responses to unconventional warfare and terrorism.[9]

In 2000, O'Connor called for a "major overhaul" of the punitive Rockefeller drug laws, which he believed produced "grave injustices".[10]

Organized labor relations

O'Connor was also a passionate defender of organized labor and an advocate for the poor and the homeless.[2] Early in his tenure, O'Connor set a pro-labor direction for the Archdiocese. During a strike in 1984 by 1199, the largest health care workers union in New York, O'Connor strongly criticized the League of Voluntary Hospitals, of which the Archdiocese was a member, for threatening to fire striking union members who refused to return to work, calling it "strikebreaking" and vowing that no Catholic hospital would do so.[11] The following year, when a contract with 1199 still had not been reached, he threatened to break with the League and settle with the union unilaterally to reach an agreement "that gives justice to the workers".[12]

In his homily during a Labor Day Mass at St. Patrick's in 1986, O'Connor expressed his strong commitment to organized labor:

[S]o many of our freedoms in this country, so much of the building up of society, is precisely attributable to the union movement, a movement that I personally will defend despite the weakness of some of its members, despite the corruption with which we are all familiar that pervades all society, a movement that I personally will defend with my life.... [13]

In 1987, when the television broadcast employees union was on strike against NBC, a non-union crew from NBC appeared at the Cardinal's residence to cover one of O'Connor's press conferences. O'Connor declined to admit them, directing his secretary to "tell them they're not invited."[13]

Following his death, SEIU 1199, published a 12-page tribute to O'Connor, calling him "the patron saint of working people" and describing his support for low-wage and other workers and his efforts in helping limousine drivers unionize, helping end the strike at The Daily News in 1990, and pushing for fringe benefits for minimum-wage home health care workers.[14]

Relations with the Jewish community

O'Connor played an active role in Catholic-Jewish relations, and he was a vocal opponent of racism and anti-Semitism. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs called him, "a true friend and champion of Catholic-Jewish relations [and] as a humanitarian who used the power of his pulpit to advocate for disadvantaged people throughout the world and in his own community."[citation needed] He strongly denounced anti-Semitism, and wrote an apology to Jewish leaders in New York for past harm done to the Jewish community.[citation needed]

O'Connor criticized Swiss banks' failure to compensate victims of the Holocaust, which he called "a human rights issue, an issue of the human race."[15] Even when disagreeing with him over political questions, Jewish leaders acknowledged that O'Connor was "a friend, a powerful voice against anti-Semitism".[16]

Relations with the gay community

O'Connor taught the traditional Catholic understanding that homosexual acts are contrary to natural law, intrinsically immoral and therefore never permissible, while homosexual desires are intrinsically disordered (but not themselves sinful). He resisted attempts within the Church to to come to a less strict interpretation of that traditional understanding[citation needed], and so was constantly at odds with the New York gay community throughout his sixteen year tenure as Archbishop.[citation needed] He vigorously and actively opposed a mayoral order and City and State legislation guaranteeing the civil rights of homosexual persons, including legislation (supported by then-Mayors Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani) prohibiting discrimination based upon sexual orientation in housing, public accommodations and employment.[17][17][18][19]

In 1980, Mayor Ed Koch issued Executive Order 50, which required all City contractors, including religious entities, to provide services on a non-discriminatory basis with respect to race, creed, age, sex, handicap, as well as "sexual orientation or affectational preference".[20] O'Connor and the New York Archdiocese, together with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Salvation Army and Agudath Israel, brought suit against the City of New York to overturn the executive order.[21][22] The Cardinal opposed the executive order, claiming it would cause the Church to appear to condone homosexual practices and lifestyle.[21][21] In September 1984, the New York Supreme Court struck down the part of the executive order that prohibited discrimination based upon "sexual orientation or affectational preference" on the grounds that the Mayor had exceeded his authority.[23] In June 1985, the New York Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's decision and struck down the executive order, holding that the Mayor had no authority to issue such an order without a legislative act.[24]

O'Connor also prohibited a pro-homosexual group from meeting in New York parishes[25], and supported efforts by the Ancient Order of Hibernians to prevent the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization from marching as such under its own banner in New York's St. Patrick's Day parade.[26]

Cardinal O'Connor celebrated Mass with members of Courage, a Catholic ministry to homosexual men and women that seeks to encourage them to abstain from sexual relations and live chastely in accordance with church teachings.[citation needed]

HIV and contraception controversy

The Cardinal opposed condom distribution as an AIDS-prevention measure, viewing it as being contrary to the Church's teaching that contraception is immoral and its use a sin. O'Connor rejected the argument that condoms distributed to gay men are not contraceptives. O'Connor's response was that using an "evil act" was not justified by good intentions, and that the Church should not be seen as encouraging sinful acts among others (other fertile heterosexual couples who might wrongly interpret his narrow support as license for their own contraception).[27][28] He also claimed that sexual abstinence is a sure way to prevent infection, [27], claiming condoms were only 90% effective against HIV transmission.[dubious – discuss] HIV activist group ACT-UP was appalled by the Cardinal's apparent opinion that it was sinful for an HIV positive person to use a condom to prevent transmission of HIV to his HIV negative partner, an opinion they believe would translate directly into more deaths.[29] This caused many of the confrontations between the group and the Cardinal.

Cardinal O'Connor was however very supportive of those who were infected with AIDS and HIV.[citation needed] Early on in the AIDS epidemic, he approved the opening of a specialized AIDS unit to provide medical care for the sick and dying in St. Clare's Hospital in Manhattan, the first of its kind in the state. He often nurtured and ministered to dying AIDS patients, many of whom were homosexual. Even though he frequently condemned homosexuals (some members of ACT-UP had protested in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral in O'Connor's absence, to protest, holding placards such as "Cardinal O'Connor Loves Gay People...If They Are Dying of AIDS", when O'Connor had been appointed to Reagan's AIDS commission[30]), he would not allow his moral differences to interfere with ministering to them. As USA Today reported, he "washed the hair and emptied bedpans of dying AIDS patients, some too sick to know who he was."[citation needed] Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo once said "No place in the country are they working more aggressively to help AIDS patients than in the archdiocese."[citation needed] O'Connor was one of the members of President Ronald Reagan's 1987 presidential commission on AIDS, serving alongside 12 other members with no expertise on the subject, including Richard DeVos and Penny Pullen.[31] The commission was considered an embarrassment by medical authorities, and a fiasco by members of the Reagan Administration, even though recommendations to Congress were eventually made.[32]

Illness and death

When O'Connor reached the retirement age for bishops of 75 in January 1995, he submitted his resignation to the Pope as required, but the Pope did not accept it. In 1999 O'Connor was diagnosed as having a brain tumor, to which he eventually succumbed. He continued to serve as Archbishop of New York until his death. He died in the Archbishop's residence and is interred in the crypt beneath the altar of St. Patrick's Cathedral. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Former President George H.W. Bush, then-Governor of Texas George W. Bush, New York Governor George Pataki and New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani were among the dignitaries who attended his funeral in St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was presided over by Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano.[33] The eulogy was delivered by Cardinal William W. Baum.[34] He was succeeded as Archbishop of New York by Edward Cardinal Egan.

Legacy

Cardinal O'Connor was posthumously awarded the Jackie Robinson Empire State Medal of Freedom by the Governor of New York George Pataki on December 21, 2000. On March 7, 2000 O'Connor was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by unanimous support in the United States Senate and only one vote against the resolution in the United States House of Representatives. Congressman Ron Paul, a libertarian Republican from Texas, opposed on the grounds that awarding the medal was not among the powers of Congress listed in the Constitution.

O'Connor's tenure earned him the enmity of New York's gay community. O'Connor was a favorite object of scorn and ridicule in ACT UP's demonstrations, the most prominent of which was a protest at St. Patrick's Cathedral on December 10, 1989. [35] Michael Petrelis, a founding member of ACT UP, was arrested along with 110 others. "We will not be silent,", he screamed before his arrest. "We will fight O'Connor's bigotry". [36] Later, he indicated that the group "came to St. Patrick's in 1989 to repel the church's destructive intrusion into public policies concerning AIDS, gay civil rights and women's reproductive rights." [37][38] The strong feelings that Cardinal O'Connor's campaigning against gay civil rights inspired were evoked at his passing, when Time Out New York, a weekly city entertainment guide, expressed relief at his death, calling it one of the best things to happen to the gay community in 2000[39], saying "The press eulogized him as a saint, when in fact, the pious creep was a stuck-in-the-1950s anti-gay menace. Good riddance!". The resulting cries of outrage forced the magazine to apologize for the insensitive tone of the statement, but Time Out New York stood by its view that the Cardinal was an "impediment to gay and lesbian progress. [40] Carmen Vasquez, a spokeswoman for the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center, opined that Cardinal O’Connor had "made the lives of gays and lesbians miserable with his public comments and opposition to their way of life."  [41] Brendan Fay, of the Catholic gay group DignityUSA, summarized that "O'Connor will certainly not be remembered as a friend or advocate at our time of greatest need." (O'Connor had issued an order ending Dignity's masses in 1987, sparking protests.[42] O'Connor had Dignity legally banned from attending services in the cathedral. [25] After eight years of protests by the group, O'Connor started meeting with the group twice a year.)[43] Fay continued, saying that the cardinal's famed compassion did not extend to homosexuals. "What we will maybe remember most as representative of the cardinal's stance toward our community is the closed doors of the cathedral."[44] Jeff Stone, a spokesman for DignityUSA, did note, "We are saddened by his death." [45] To honor his distinguished service as a US Navy chaplain, the Catholic Center at the Naval Post-Graduate School, Monterey, CA, is named the O'Connor Center.

The largest student run pro-life conference in the U.S. is named in his honor. It is held every year at Georgetown University the day before the annual March for Life. [1]

Episcopal succession

Ordination history of
John O'Connor
History
Priestly ordination
PlaceCathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul Edit this on Wikidata, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Edit this on Wikidata, United States Edit this on Wikidata
Episcopal consecration
Consecrated byPope John Paul II
DateMay 27 1979
PlaceSt. Peter's Basilica Edit this on Wikidata, Rome Edit this on Wikidata, Italy Edit this on Wikidata
Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by John O'Connor as principal consecrator
Alfred James JolsonFebruary 6 1988
Patrick Joseph SheridanDecember 12 1990
James Michael MoynihanMay 29 1995
Edwin Frederick O'BrienMarch 25 1996
Robert Anthony BrucatoAugust 25 1997
James Francis McCarthyJune 29 1999

References

  1. ^ a b EWTN, In Memoriam retrieved 12-31-08
  2. ^ a b c "Death of a Cardinal; Cardinal O'Connor, 80, Dies; Forceful Voice for Vatican", New York Times, May 4, 2000; retrieved 12-31-08
  3. ^ "Abortion: Questions and Answers", July 1990;Catholic New York; retrieved 12-31-08
  4. ^ "Conditions for a Just War", Catholic New York Apr. 26, 1999; retrieved 12-31-08
  5. ^ "Were the Attacks Morally Justifiable?", Catholic New York Aug. 27, 1998; retrieved 1/2/09
  6. ^ "Many Moral Questions on Kosovo Conflict", Catholic New York June 3, 1999; retrieved 1/2/09
  7. ^ "Conditions for a Just War", Catholic New York Apr. 29, 1999; retrieved 1/2/09
  8. ^ "Ten Good Men for a Power-Mad World", Catholic New York May 13, 1999; retrieved 1/2/09
  9. ^ "Were the Attacks Morally Justifiable?", Catholic New York Aug. 27, 1998; retrieved 1/2/09
  10. ^ "The Rockefeller Drug Laws", Catholic New York Feb. 3, 2000; retrieved 1/2/09
  11. ^ "O'Connor Says He May Uphold Hospital Accord", New York Times, Sept. 2, 1985; retrieved 1-3-09
  12. ^ "O'Connor Says He May Uphold Hospital Accord", New York Times, Sept. 2, 1985; retrieved 1-3-09
  13. ^ a b Hentoff, Nat (1988). John Cardinal O'Connor: at the Storm Center of a Changing American Catholic Church. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 258. ISBN 0-684-18944-5. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) Cite error: The named reference "NH1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  14. ^ "Union Celebrates O'Connor's Labor Views", New York Times, July 24, 2000; retrieved 1-2-09
  15. ^ "When Will the Holocaust Really End?", Catholic New York Aug. 16, 1998; retrieved 1/2/09
  16. ^ "O'Connor Is Upset by Critics of Trip", New York Times Jan. 12, 1987; retrieved 1-1-09
  17. ^ a b Peddicord, Richard (1996). Gay and Lesbian Rights. Sheed & Ward. p. 64. ISBN 978-1556127595. [New York City], "the birthplace of the contemporary [Gay and Lesbian Movement] was long embroiled over the issue of non-discrimination legislation. It is no secret that the two most powerful opponents were 'the Orthodox Jewish community and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York'". {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) Cite error: The named reference "GLR1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  18. ^ Peddicord, Richard (1996). Gay and Lesbian Rights. Sheed & Ward. p. 83. ISBN 978-1556127595. Cardinal O'Connor "saw support for municipal gay rights ordinances as incompatible with [his] episcopal ministry." {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  19. ^ Peddicord, Richard (1996). Gay and Lesbian Rights. Sheed & Ward. p. 92. ISBN 978-1556127595. Cardinal O'Connor has strongly opposed all [gay and lesbian rights] legislation; his opposition is founded on the maxim that one has no 'right' to homosexual behavior. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  20. ^ "Archdiocese Challenges Koch's Order on Hiring, New York Times, Nov. 27, 1984; retrieved 1-2-09
  21. ^ a b c "Obit-O'Connor". New Zealand Digital Library. 4 June 2000. Retrieved 1 January 2009. O'Connor also defied then-Mayor Ed Koch's executive order requiring social service organizations -- including those run by the church -- to provide equal services to homosexuals. O'Connor maintained that that would imply church toleration of homosexuality. A court later held that Koch had exceeded his authority. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessdaymonth=, |month=, |accessyear=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)
  22. ^ "Archdiocese Challenges Koch's Order on Hiring, New York Times, Nov. 27, 1984; retrieved 1-2-09
  23. ^ "Archdiocese Challenges Koch's Order on Hiring, New York Times, Nov. 27, 1984; retrieved 1-2-09
  24. ^ "Brooklyn Diocese Joins Homosexual-Bill Fight", New York Times, Feb. 7, 1986; retrieved 1-1-09
  25. ^ a b Golway, Terry (2001). Full of Grace. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 54ff. ISBN 0743448146. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  26. ^ Perez-Pena, Richard (20 January 1993). "St. Patrick Parade Sponsor May Quit Over Gay Dispute". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 January 2009. The Hibernians and Cardinal O'Connor have said there is no place for a gay contingent in the parade because it is a Catholic event and the church teaches that homosexual acts are sinful. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  27. ^ a b Navarro, Mireya (3 January 1993). "Ethics of Giving AIDS Advice Troubles Catholic Hospitals". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 January 2009. Cardinal O'Connor opposed the United States Catholic Conference's 1987 policy statement on AIDS, 'saying it would confuse Catholics because it gives the impression the bishops were wavering on their condemnation of birth control. The objections from Cardinal O'Connor and others led to a subsequent statement by the board that, without replacing the original, called for reliance on abstinence outside marriage to prevent AIDS.' {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  28. ^ Goldman, Ari L. (30 December 1987). "Catholic Leader Rebuts O'Connor on Condom Issue". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 January 2009. Conservative bishops, led by Cardinal O'Connor, criticized the paper, saying it would confuse Catholics. The New York Cardinal said there would be no condom education in his archdiocese. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  29. ^ PURDUM, TODD S. (12 December, 1989). "Cardinal Says He Won't Yield to Protests". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 January 2009. Jay Blotcher, a spokesman for the Aids Coalition to Unleash Power, or Act-Up, one of the protest's sponsors, said: 'Unfortunately, the dead bodies that the Cardinal is stepping over are the bodies of the people with AIDS who have already passed away. And what he faces are more bodies of people who could potentially contract the disease because the church refuses to give them access to safe-sex educuation.' {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  30. ^ Goldman, Ari L. (27 July 1987). "300 Fault O'Connor Role On AIDS Commission". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 January 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  31. ^ Bastos, Christina (1999). Global Responses to AIDS: Science in Emergency. Indiana University Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0253335906. The first Reagan-appointed AIDS commission included no AIDS experts. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  32. ^ Feldman, Douglas A. (1998). The AIDS Crisis. Greenwood Press. p. 172. ISBN 0-313-287515-5. In July 1987...Reagan appointed an AIDS Commission that included opponents of AIDS education and was devoid of physicians who had treated AIDS patients or scientists who had engaged in AIDS research. The Commission appointments reflected the influence of conservatives who feared not only AIDS, but homosexuals. In naming this body, Reagan sent an unfortunate message to the public that he did not care enough about the AIDS problem to muster the best scientific information available. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  33. ^ "O'Connor entombed at St. Patrick's Cathedral"; May 8, 2000; USA Today; url accessed March 13, 2007
  34. ^ "He Hasn't Left", Jan. 2000; Catholic New York; retrieved 12-31-08
  35. ^ Shaw, Randy (2001). The Activist's Handbook. University of California. p. 221. ISBN 978-0520229280. The third and most controversial action involved ACT UP's confrontation with New York's Cardinal O'Connor at St. Patrick's Cathedral on December 10, 1989, likely the most famous action in ACT UP's history. Cardinal O'Connor had been a staunch opponent of the gay and lesbian movement ever since his appointment as archbishop of New York in 1984. He banned the gay Catholic group Dignity from Catholic churches, led opposition to New York City's 1986 Gay Rights Bill, and most important, advanced an agenda hostile to that of AIDS activists. O'Connor opposed safe-sex education in schools and the use of condoms to prevent HIV transmission, and he attacked assertions that condoms and clean needles could decrease the risk of infection as "lies" perpetuated by public health officials. Graphic artists affiliated with ACT UP created a subway poster and placard picturing O'Connor next to a condom under the boldly printed words, "Know Your Scumbags." The caption under the condom read, "This one prevents AIDS." There was a "widespread belief among ACT UP members that O'Connor constituted a menace to people with AIDS". {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); line feed character in |quote= at position 1011 (help)
  36. ^ Deparle, Jason (11 December 1989). "111 Held in St. Patrick's AIDS Protest". Retrieved 1 January 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help).
  37. ^ "Stop the Church". ACT UP. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  38. ^ Shaw, Randy (2001). The Activist's Handbook. University of California. pp. 222–4. ISBN 978-0520229280. The Cardinal O'Connor action requires more careful scrutiny. ACT UP knew going in that the event would be unlikely to influence its target... Yet...Cardinal O'Connor had injected himself and the church he controlled into a political dispute in opposition to ACT UP's agenda. National media coverage of the action ignored O'Connor's actual role in fomenting anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-ACT UP political advocacy. " Because of the media coverage, "the action came to be perceived as an attack on a religious ceremony rather than on a political advocate. " Factors in ACT UP's decision to proceed with the demonstration despite knowing that the media would side with O'Connor took into account "his vocal opposition to any education about safe sex, AIDS, or condoms in schools," which "increased public health risks. These were political rather than religious stances. Having assumed the role of a politician, the Cardinal became fair game for direct political action. ACT UP could not allow a political opponent to avoid confrontation by disguising his political message as religious teaching. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  39. ^ "Founder of Homosexual Web Site Wishing for 'Death' of Christians Once Attacked Church". Concerned Women for America. 28 November 2001. Retrieved 1 January 2009. The Wockner Wire of 12 January 2001 read "New York City's Time Out magazine has apologized for an item that described Catholic Cardinal John O'Connor's death as one of the best things to happen to the gay community last year."...There are few forces more evil in the world that the Roman Catholic Church's thoroughly ridiculous notions about sexuality, which have caused immeasurable suffering and self-hatred across the globe throughout much of recorded history. Time Out's eulogy was an understatement." {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessdaymonth=, |month=, |accessyear=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)
  40. ^ Fass, Allison (8 January 2001). "Media Talk; Qualified Apology For Item on Cardinal". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved 1 January 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  41. ^ Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights (4 January 2001). "Unacceptable Apology by Time Out New York". Retrieved 1 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
  42. ^ "Homosexuals Protest Ending of Their Mass". 16 March 1987. Retrieved 1 January 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  43. ^ "Social Justice". Dignity New York. Retrieved 1 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessdaymonth=, |month=, |accessyear=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)
  44. ^ "Obit-O'Connor". New Zealand Digital Library. 4 June 2000. Retrieved 1 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessdaymonth=, |month=, |accessyear=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)
  45. ^ Proust, Mary Ann (11 May 2000). "A Great Man". Catholic New York. Retrieved 1 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessdaymonth=, |month=, |accessyear=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)

See also

External links

Preceded by
Joseph Carroll McCormick
 Bishop of Scranton
1983–1984 		Succeeded by
James Clifford Timlin
Preceded by Archbishop of New York
1984–2000 		Succeeded by

Template:ArchbishopsofNY

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