Martin John O'Connor was born in Scranton, PA on May 18, 1900 to Martin John (senior) and Belinda (Caffrey) O'Connor. He was the long-time Rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome (1946-1963), and the founding President of the Papal Commission for Social Communication (1948-1971). He also served as titular Archbishop of Laodicia (1948-1970) and papal nuncio to Malta (1965-1969).
O'Connor completed a Ph.D. in Theology at the Pontifical North American College in Rome in 1924, and a Ph.D. in Canon Law at the Faculty of the Lateran in 1929.
O'Connor was ordained in Rome in 1924, and then returned to Pennsylvania where he served as assistant pastor of St. Peter's Cathedral in Scranton from 1925 to 1927. He was assistant editor of the Catholic Light, the Scranton Diocesan newspaper, from 1929 to 1932. From 1925 to 1935 he was secretary to the Bishop, and then became Auxiliary Bishop of Scranton from 1943 to 1946. He also served as the Pastor of St. Mary Parish in Wilkes-Barre from 1943 to 1946. In 1946, Bishop O'Connor was called back to Rome to take over as Rector of the Pontifical North American College, which had been vacant during the years of World War II.
On assuming the Rectorship in 1946, O'Connor began the rehabilitation of its buildings at Castel Gandolfo and the Via dell'Umilitá, which had fallen into disuse and been taken over by war refugees and students from other Vatican programs. In 1948, with this reconstruction two years short of completion, O'Connor broke ground for a new college campus on the Janiculum Hill, for which he had, by 1953, raised $4.5 million from the dioceses of America and Canada. The campus was officially dedicated by Pius XII in October 1953. By the time of his retirement from the school in 1963, O'Connor had built it from its initial postwar student body of 40, to 280 students, representing some 110 dioceses in North America.
During these years in Rome, Bishop O'Connor accepted a charge from Pius XII (beginning in 1948), to organize a Commission for religious and didactic films. This Commission grew over the next twenty years to include all broadcast and commercial media, becoming the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications. In the early 1960s, this Commission was tasked with principal responsibility for Vatican press relations and public communication during the Second Vatican Council.
Archbishop O'Connor was awarded one of Italy's highest decorations when he was named Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 1957, and in September 1959 was named titular Archbishop of Laodicia in Syria by John XXIII. Archbishop O'Connor served as a member of the General Preparatory Commission for the Second Vatican Council, and served during the Council as a member of the Commission for the Lay Apostolate. In 1966, he was appointed Vice President of the post-conciliar version of that Commission. Pope Paul VI named Archbishop O'Connor the Vatican's first apostolic nuncio to Malta in 1965; he served in this position until his retirement in 1971. In 1968, he was named consultor to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. After his retirement, O'Connor returned to the United States in 1979. He died in Wilkes-Barre, PA on December 1, 1986.
This collection comprises the personal papers, records, photographs, correspondence, awards, mementos, and memorabilia accumulated by Archbishop Martin John O'Connor during a career that began with his ordination in 1924 and lasted through his retirement in 1971 at age seventy.
The correspondence and diaries of Archbishop O'Connor begin during his studies in Rome and his early career in Scranton, including newspaper articles written by O'Connor during his years as the assistant editor of the Diocesan newspaper, and transcripts of his radio addresses during the 1940s. The Scranton correspondence includes Bishop O'Connor's Episcopal correspondence. The files from the early 1950s include personnel records of the Pontifical College and a partial itinerary of Bishop O'Connor's fundraising travels in America and Canada. The papers continue through his death in 1986. Included are O'Connor's materials donated by biographer (who never finished his work) Monsignor John P. Gallagher, a CUA graduate and fellow Scranton priest. The collection contains 59 boxes of files organized into seventeen series; additional, detailed processing on these materials will be performed at a later date. Box 45 contains restricted personnel records.
The collection includes photograph albmus of mounted and captioned photographs, which begin with his years in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and then continue with the eventful history of the Pontifical North American College in Rome during the years of Archbishop O'Connor's Rectorship, between 1946 and 1963. This began with the extensive rehabilitation, reconstruction, and expansion of the College during the postwar years and continued with the establishment of the College as an American door to the Vatican during the Cold War years of increased American presence in Europe. The College and its Rector welcomed many significant visitors including: Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Nixon; a second visit by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy; Papal Ambassadors Clare Boothe Luce and John McCone; numerous visits by American Cardinals; and Popes Pius XII, John XXIII, and Paul VI. Extensive photographic records of two papal funerals and the ceremonies surrounding the second Vatican Council are also featured in the collection.
The Archbishop Martin J. O'Connor Collection consists of 19 Series:
Access to the O'Connor Collection was restricted until 2006, and is now open to all scholars, except for personnel records in box 45.
This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
The acquisition of the O'Connor Collection began in 1971 with the transfer, from Marywood College in Scranton, Pennsylvania, of four large wooden crates and eight cardboard cartons containing document files, photograph albums, miscellaneous materials, and scrapbooks. A label from this shipment (in Accession file number two) indicates that a letter of instruction for the disposition of the collection remains on file with the President of Marywood.
Over the next ten years, from April 1971 to July 1980, Archbishop O'Connor sent his papers and memorabilia to the archivists and librarians of The Catholic University of America in 197 airmail and parcel post packages, and one rather large parcel sent in 1973.
Finally, in 2008, the CUA Archives received a small collection of photographs, correspondence, and Archbishop O'Connor's passport, which had been in the personal files of Monsignor John P. Gallagher (1924-2007) of Scranton, Pennsylvania, who had been Archbishop O'Connor's designated biographer. Upon Monsignor Gallagher's death, Gallagher's sister, Margaret Miller, contributed the remaining O'Connor materials to the collection at CUA.
Processing of the manuscript portion of collection was performed in 1998 by Patrick Ramos and William J. Shepherd. Processing of the audiovisual series was performed in November 2011 by Timothy Porges. EAD markup was performed in November 2011 by Timothy Porges, and in December 2011 by Robin C. Pike.
Boxes 1-22
Boxes 23-29
Boxes 30-32
Boxes 36-38
Box 39
Boxes 40-44
Box 45
Boxes 46-48
Box 49
Boxes 50-51
Box 52
Box 53
Boxes 54-55
Box 56
Box 57
Boxes 58-59
Box 59
Education; Ordination; Scranton; Consecration; Return to Rome
First school year, post-war; Pontifical North American College; Rome
Ritual Year; Cardinal Spellman (New York) visits; School business
Student ordinations; Visiting pilgrims from New York city and Boston
HH Pope Pius X beatified; Margaret Truman visits the College
Pontifical North American College rededicated by Pius XII; Henry Ford visits College; HF Papal Audience; Year-end ordinations
Cardinal Spellman visits with New York city pilgrims; Beatifications; Year-end ordinations
Archbishop O'Hara made Nuncio to Ireland; American Cardinals visit the College; Marymount, confirmations and first communions
Cardinal McIntyre is elevated, visits the College
Opening of the New Campus by Pius XII; visit by United States Papal Ambassador Clare Boothe Luce; Photographs of the new campus
Pilgrims from Pennsylvania visit the College, papal audience; College events; Easter Blessing
Cardinal Cushing and Boston pilgrims visit the College and Vatican; Year-end ordinations
Audience for Italian Film industry; Mayor Wagner (New York city) visits, papal audience
Pontifical North American College postcards; College visits from Cardinal Spellman, new Papal Ambassador McCone, Harry S. Truman; Truman Papal Audience
Vice President Richard M. Nixon and Pat Nixon; Papal Audience
Funerals for Cardinal Stritch, Pius XII
Cardinal Mooney dies; Funeral (22 photos); HH Pope John XXIII visits the College
HH Pope John XXIII visits children's hospital; Photo of "Boni Pastoris" letter recognizing expansion of Social Media Commission
Centenary visit to College by John XXIII; Eisenhower visits Vatican for an audience and leaves the College via helicopter
Separate Folder: photos of CBS "Person to Person" program shoot in the Vatican City featuring Charles Collingwood; Papal audience for Katherine Hudson and her Mother; Many photos of Notre Dame University graduation ceremonies and honorary degree recipients, including O'Connor, Eisenhower, Cardinal Montini, Dr Belaunde (United Nations General Assembly President), and Dr. Tom Dooley; Inaugural photos of the Vatican II preparatory sessions
Signed photo of Jacqueline Kennedy, March 11, 1962; 55 photos of her visit to the College and papal audience; Photo of Commission preparations for Vatican Council II; Meeting with John XXIII; Presentation of "Esercenti Cinema" (Italian Film Exhibitioners) to the Pope; Catholic Film Office and League of Decency; Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip papal audience; John XXIII consecrates a Greek Bishop; Delivery of the Easter blessing; Elevation of Cardinal Ritter
Visit of the French Papal Ambassador (Baron de la Tournelle) to the Commission, to present French films to the Commission library (6 photos); Canonization of Saint Martin de Porres; Opening ceremonies of Vatican Council II
Visit of Paul VI to the Social Media Commission; Press images from Vatican Council II; John F. Kennedy visits Rome, papal audience; Death and funeral of John XXIII; Richard M. Nixon visits the College
Social Media Commission business; O'Connor travels to Malta as the Papal Nuncio to Malta; Meeting with Elizabeth II (Queen of Malta) and Prince Phillip (5 photos)
Assorted official events at the College and in the Vatican; 1969 Nixon visit; 1969 Bishops' Synod; Commission business; Delegation of American cardinals and pilgrims visit the Vatican and the College, 1970
Social correspondence; Invitations; Cartes de visite; Menus (signed); Telegrams; Cables; Christmas cards; Newspaper clippings
Program, citations, and photographs accompanying an Academic Convocation at Georgetown University in Washington DC, at which Archbishop O'Connor was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law, and delivered the annual Founder's Day address