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| Bishops of the Milwaukee Province congratulate Bishop Cletus F. O’Donnell, center, after his installation as Bishop of Madison in 1967 at St. Raphael Cathedral in Madison. From left are: Bishop George A. Hammes, Superior; Bishop Stanislaus V. Bona, Green Bay; Archbishop William E. Cousins, Milwaukee; Bishop O’Donnell; Bishop William P. O’Connor, retired bishop of Madison; Bishop John B. Grellinger, auxiliary bishop of Green Bay; and Bishop Frederick W. Freking, La Crosse. (Catholic Herald file photo) |
Fifteenth in a series on the 75th anniversary of the Diocese of Madison
In February of 1967, Bishop Cletus F. O’Donnell was appointed by Pope Paul VI as the second Bishop of Madison succeeding Bishop William P. O’Connor.
In the message from the Vatican to the clergy and people of the Diocese of Madison, Bishop O’Donnell was described as “a man of eminent episcopal virtue and laudable qualifications: piety, discernment, integrity, and a skilled experience in leading the flock of Christ.”
Bishop O’Donnell was installed on April 25, 1967, at St. Raphael Cathedral in Madison by Archbishop William E. Cousins of Milwaukee.
Bishop O’Donnell’s background
Cletus O’Donnell was born on August 22, 1917, to Patrick and Isabel (Duffy) O’Donnell in Waukon, Iowa.
His mother was a teacher and his father was a banker.
During the Depression, many farms failed in Iowa; his father lost everything, and the family moved to Chicago in 1927.
O’Donnell graduated from Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago in 1935.
He made a retreat at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Ill., led by Fr. Rafael McCarthy, dean of the School of Journalism at Marquette University in Milwaukee.
“He more than anyone impressed me and gave me a vision of what a priest is and his place in the Church,” Bishop O’Donnell observed in a Catholic Herald interview in 1991.
He received a master’s degree from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in 1941.
He was ordained to the priesthood on May 3, 1941, as a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
For about a year after ordination, he served as assistant pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Chicago.
In 1942, he began studying at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned a doctorate in canon law in 1945.
Upon returning to Chicago, he was assigned to the chancery. He served as vice chancellor, a post he held until 1960.
During this time, he was also appointed promoter of justice and defender of the bond.
Named Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago
He was named Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago on October 25, 1960, vicar general and archdiocesan consultor on November 2, and was consecrated as a bishop on December 21.
Bishop O’Donnell served with Cardinal Albert G. Meyer of Chicago.
Cardinal Meyer was one of the presiders at the Second Vatican Council, but he died on April 9, 1965, between the third and fourth sessions of the council.
Bishop O’Donnell served as administrator of the Archdiocese of Chicago following Cardinal Meyer’s death until the installation of Archbishop John P. Cody on August 24, 1965.
In February of 1966, Bishop O’Donnell was named pastor of Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago while retaining duties as vicar general.
In addition, he was president of the New World, the Chicago archdiocesan newspaper.
Although Bishop O’Donnell was at Holy Name Cathedral for a short time, he said he enjoyed parish life very much, saying later that it was “the happiest time of my life. I put into practice many of the things I learned at the Vatican Council, including liturgical reform and establishing a parish council.”
In November of 1966, he was one of 40 bishops elected by the 265 members of the U.S. hierarchy to serve on the Administrative Board of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB).
He was named assistant treasurer and chairman of the conference’s American Board of Catholic Missions.
More on Bishop O’Donnell’s episcopate will be included in the next article in this series.
Sources: Building Our Future in Faith: Commemorative History of the Catholic Diocese of Madison (1996); archives of the Catholic Herald newspaper.
Mary C. Uhler served on the staff of the Catholic Herald-Diocese of Madison for almost 47 years, the last 34 years as editor. She retired in July of 2020.