In the wake of Bishop O’Connell’s murder, we must remember how he loved

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Bishop O'Connell
Auxiliary Bishop David G. O'Connell of Los Angeles climbs a high summit in the San Gabriel Valley April 23, 2020, to bless the most populous counties of Southern California and beyond during the coronavirus pandemic. (CNS photo/Kenny McCann, Ronin 7 Entertainment courtesy Virgin Most Powerful Radio)

Kathryn Jean Lopez“Talk to Jesus and talk to the Blessed Mother, at this very moment.”

I had the honor of going to Fátima and Lourdes with Bishop David G. O’Connell, an auxiliary bishop in Los Angeles, in the autumn of 2017. I have no doubt that this is the message he would want you to consider at this very moment.

You may know his name because he was recently murdered.

He was both a gentle and courageous man. That he is no longer with us is hard to comprehend. Such is the nature of death. Especially the most violent and seemingly senseless.

I keep thinking that he might have been the most Catholic person I have ever met. I don’t say that to canonize him. I say that because many people I’ve talked with either didn’t know his ideological leanings or assumed he must just agree with them — because he loved them. He was both pro-life and at home with community organizers. The very first time I heard about him, a mutual friend told me how he would lead St. Ignatius Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises among gang members. Ignatius was a soldier. His Exercises are intense. And contemplative.

And that’s the Bishop Dave that I knew.

I can’t pretend to have been a good friend of his, but we co-led that pilgrimage. During that trip, I learned that the logistics of leading a pilgrimage are not my forte. And this amused him in the most brotherly way. I got to know not just his deep love for Mary and Jesus but also for humanity and all its quirks. Meeting him in the lobby of a hotel, I felt loved. That’s what Christians need to do. Welcome and love. And challenge.

It was as if he had actually listened to Jesus and his Sermon on the Mount.

I fear that in any Google search you do for Bishop Dave right now, all you might learn is that he was murdered. And maybe that he was a social justice warrior. When I say that he was the most Catholic person, what I mean is this: He took so much of Catholic social teaching seriously. He believed in the dignity of human life. He wept for the suffering — especially children. He had an acute sensitivity for children growing up without a father. He knew that abuse was widespread. He walked with women who had suffered the pain of abortion — and knew that not only do women deserve better, but that God was insisting that we do better for them.

Bishop Dave knew that the devil is not only real but actively at work to destroy families and take daggers to human hearts. One of the dearest — and boldest — things about him was that he was convinced that everyone needed to be a mystic. This is not off the reservation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about this. Mysticism is about our journey to union with God. But Bishop Dave wouldn’t have been so matter of fact about it. He would have simply told you to take a deep breath and say the name of Jesus. He would have told you to look at an image of the Blessed Mother and ask her to be your mother. There was something beautifully uncomplicated about Bishop Dave’s approach. And he was also convinced — by his experience with children who had suffered so much at the hands of adults — that children needed to know Jesus and Mary in a true relationship, and that they could do so. They only had to know adults who believed that this relationship was the most important thing.

I had a long conversation with Bishop Dave after our pilgrimage. He talked to me about the Unbound ministry and how liberating that can be for people. He knew that trauma had physical and psychological realities, but also the spiritual. And we forget that last one at the peril of suffering souls. He was concerned that we didn’t take that seriously enough, and that Mary was imploring us to. This was the focus of his sermons in Fátima and Lourdes during our trip and in much of his ministry.

Bishop Dave was born in Ireland but served his priesthood in Los Angeles. There’s something about that brogue that made everything sweeter and lighter and more full of grace.

So many have seen his photo and know that he was murdered. But I wish you could have seen how much he loved.

I remember how he helped me surrender the little logistics of that pilgrimage. He refocused me on Jesus, with the help of Mary, who he loved awesomely. That’s what a Christian needs to do. Remember Bishop Dave, and remember Jesus and Mary and the love they have for us, to pour out to everyone we encounter. That’s what Bishop Dave sought to do.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is a senior fellow at the National Review Institute and editor-at-large of National Review.

Kathryn Jean Lopez

Kathryn Jean Lopez is a senior fellow at the National Review Institute and editor-at-large of National Review.