Msgr. Gerard O'Connor

Rector
Phone: (503) 228-4397 ex. 1000
Email: Click Here to Email

Msgr. O’Connor was born in Hull, Yorkshire in England in 1964; he attended Marist College for High School and then onto Kingston University in London where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Physics. After university he began working in the Personal Computer industry in the marketing field. In 1992 he was transferred to Boston with the company he was working with as Vice-President of Marketing. After a couple of years working in the US he decided to discern a priestly vocation. He joined the Diocese of Fall River in 1996 and shortly after was sent to Rome to finish his priestly studies at the North American College.

Msgr. O’Connor was ordained by Bishop O’Malley on 22 July 2000 and after a brief assignment on Martha’s Vineyard was sent back to Rome to work for the Holy See as an official of the Congregation of the Clergy. He was named a Chaplain to His Holiness in March 2005. Upon his return to the United States in January of 2007 he was assigned as Parochial Administrator of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in New Bedford, MA. After a year as an assistant priest at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Centerville, MA Msgr. O’Connor was named pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet, MA.

During his nine years at pastor of St. Francis Xavier, he oversaw the revitalization of the parish and filled the parish school. The parish implemented perpetual Eucharistic adoration and placed an emphasis on liturgy and preaching. This pro-life parish with a great adult formation program became a model parish community producing vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life.

In September 2017 Msgr. O’Connor was given on loan to the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon for a period of three years taking the position of Director of the Office of Worship. That period was extend by a further three years in September 2020.

Msgr. O’Connor became the Rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland on 1 January 2021, whilst maintaining his role as Director of the Office of Worship.

As well as an MBA from Kingston University in London he holds a License and Doctorate in Sacred Liturgy from the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome. He is a member of the consultative committee of the journal of liturgical studies Ephemerides Liturgicae. He is the chaplain to the Portland Guild of the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) and a director of the board of Mater Dei Radio (CNI, Inc.).