Catholic New York reported that the sister of Cardinal John O’Connor, the late archbishop of New York, had recently discovered that their mother was born to a Jewish woman who had converted to Catholicism at the age of 19. Thus, O’Connor is technically Jewish.

Cardinal O’Connor, the fourth of five children, was born in a row house in a blue-collar Philadelphia neighborhood on January 15, 1920. His father, Thomas O’Connor, was his hero and his mother, Mary Gomble O’Connor, experienced both a sudden blindness and recovery that impacted Cardinal O’Connor with a sensitivity to disabled people for the rest of his life.

John Joseph O'Connor (January 15, 1920 – May 3, 2000) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of New York from 1984 until his death in 2000, and was created a cardinal in 1985. He previously served as auxiliary bishop of the Military Vicariate of the United States (now the Archdiocese for the Military Services) (1979–83) and Bishop of Scranton (1983–84).

References

1. The Rabbi O'Connor never knew: his grandfather New York Times, June 10. 2014

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