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Early last December, O’Connell faced allegations that sexual misconduct occurred in his early years of being a pastor at Our Lady of the Woods Parish. Immediately there was backlash. Due to the recent events of Catholic misconduct, people who did not know O’Connell were quick to accuse him, calling for his termination from priesthood. But, for people who knew O’Connell, it was a different story.
I am one of the latter. I knew Father Mike O’Connell since I was in second grade. He was the priest who celebrated my biggest sacraments. He was the priest who created the Youth Ministry program I work with to this day. He is the reason why I am employed in the Archdiocese of Chicago and he is the reason why my faith has stood strong over the course of some of the hardest times in my life. The accusations against him shocked and appalled me. But not once since I found out what Michael O’Connell had been accused of did I ever doubt him as a priest, a mentor and a friend.
What hurts the most is there isn’t as much of a media hoopla around the clearing of his name. There have not been hundreds of phone calls to the parish office asking questions about how he is doing and congratulating him on his innocence. This is a comment on our society as a whole. We are so quick to jump on a scathing story that could condemn a man, that could destroy a man, that could change a man forever… where are we when his name is cleared? This story has a happy ending for Father Mike O’Connell. Help me to spread this news to everyone so that his good name is not tarnished by uninformed news-watchers.