Francis Jeremiah Connell, C.Ss.R. (January 31, 1888 - May 12, 1967), was a Redemptorist priest, professor, author, and noted Catholic American theologian. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and died in Washington, D.C.
Early life
Born to Timothy and Mary (née Sheehan), Francis attended the Boston public school system from 1893 to 1901. From 1901 to 1905, he attended Boston Latin School.
After graduating, Connell won a scholarship to the Jesuit Boston College and attended for 2 years. He was thinking of the priesthood, but did not want to spend priesthood teaching in the classroom as was usually the case for academically gifted Jesuits. Thus, in 1907 Connell joined the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, better known as the Redemptorists.
Connell spent novitiate year at the Redemptorist house in Annapolis, Maryland, after which he was sent to Mount St. Alphonsus Seminary in Esopus, New York to study philosophy and theology in preparation for priestly ordination. On June 26, 1913, he was ordained at Mount St. Alphonsus by Thomas Francis Cusack, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York. From August 14, 1913, to February 15, 1914, he did a second novitiate in Annapolis and was assigned as a curate to Our Lady of Perpetual Help church in Brooklyn, NY. He remained there in pastoral ministry until September 15, 1915.
Career
In 1915, Connell's superiors already planned to send him to Rome to earn a doctorate. World War I made this difficult. Instead, Connell was assigned to teach dogmatic theology at Mount St. Alphonsus Seminary.
In 1921, he was sent to the Pontificium Collegium Internationale Angelicum, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in Rome. With his dissertation De scientia beata Christi he obtained a Doctorate in Sacred Theology summa cum laude. On returning to the United States, was assigned for a short time to his previous parish in Brooklyn. and
From 1924 to 1940 he taught dogma again at the Redemptorist seminary in Esopus.
In 1940, Bishop Joseph Moran Corrigan, Rector of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., invited Connell to teach dogma there and Connell accepted. During the summer of 1940, Fr. James W. O'Brien, then professor of moral theology, was reassigned by his own bishop to a become rector of the archdiocesan seminary in Cincinnati and Connell was asked to fill O'Brien's teaching post, which he did from autumn of 1940 until his retirement in 1958.
From 1945 until 1950, he also served as rector of Holy Redeemer College, in Washington, D.C. During the 1940s, he was a charter member and first president of the Catholic Theological Society of America.
By 1949 Connell had risen to Dean of the School of Sacred Theology at Catholic University and remained until 1957.
Last decade, 1958-67
After retiring from the archdiocesan seminary in Cincinnati, he still stayed on as Dean of Religious Communities at the Catholic University from 1958 to 1967, and from 1958 to 1962 he was also professor of Sacred Sciences at St. John's University in New York.
Connell was named a peritus for the Second Vatican Council. He was on the American Bishops' Press Panel which briefed English-speaking reporters of conciliar proceedings.
Influence
Connell was sought for advice by bishops, priests, religious, and laity. During his time in Washington, he used to send out between two and three thousands responses by mail each year. Connell claimed that through his teaching, letters, retreats, and conferences, he had come into contact with one-quarter of the priests in the United States.
Connell's influence also spread through the media. He appeared frequently on the radio and television, such as the national "Catholic Hour," "Church of the Air," and "Washington Catholic Hour." He wrote numerous articles for the reviews Angelicum, American Ecclesiastical Review regularly from 1943 to 1967, Clergy Review, Thought, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, and Atlantic Monthly, as well as a number of books. He was preparing a two volume text on moral theology when he died.
Personal life
Former students remember that he was almost always smiling. He was generous with his time and at the request of students would hold a study review sessions in the evening before an exam.
Connell regularly spent his summers at the San Alfonso Redemptorist retreat house in Long Branch, New Jersey. He enjoyed going into the ocean daily.