John Joseph O ' Connor 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 Archdiocese for the Military Services ( 1979 – 83 ) and Bishop of Scranton ( 1983 – 84 ) . Early life , education , and military career . O ' Connor was born in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , the fourth of five children of Thomas J . and Dorothy Magdalene ( née Gomple ) O ' Connor . He attended public schools until his junior year of high school , when he enrolled in West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys . O ' Connor then enrolled at St . Charles Borromeo Seminary , and after graduating from there he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on December 15 , 1945 , by Hugh L . Lamb , then an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese . He was initially assigned to teach at St . James High School in Chester , Pennsylvania . O ' Connor obtained a Master ' s Degree in advanced ethics from Villanova University and in 1970 a doctorate in political science from Georgetown University , where he studied at the Edmund A . Walsh School of Foreign Service and wrote his dissertation under future United Nations ambassador , Jeane Kirkpatrick . O ' Connor joined the United States Navy in 1952 as a military chaplain during the Korean War , often entering combat zones in order to say Mass and to administer last rites to soldiers . He rose through the ranks to become a rear admiral and Chief of Chaplains of the Navy . During this period , he was made an Honorary Prelate of His Holiness , with the title of Right Reverend Monsignor , on October 27 , 1966 . Bishop . On April 24 , 1979 , Pope John Paul II appointed O ' Connor as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services and titular bishop of Cursola . He was consecrated to the episcopate on May 27 , 1979 at St . Peter ' s Basilica in Rome by John Paul himself , along with Cardinals Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy and Eduardo Martínez Somalo as co - consecrators . On May 6 , 1983 , John Paul II named O ' Connor Bishop of Scranton , and he was installed in that position on the following June 29 . Archbishop of New York . On January 26 , 1984 , after the death of Cardinal Terence Cooke three months earlier , O ' Connor was appointed Archbishop of New York , and installed on March 19 . He was elevated to cardinal in the consistory of May 25 , 1985 , with the titulur church of " Santi Giovanni e Paolo " in Rome , the traditional one for the Archbishop of New York . As Archbishop , O ' Connor skillfully brought to bear the power and prestige of his office to bear witness to traditional Catholic doctrine . Upon his death , the " New York Times " called O ' Connor " a familiar and towering presence , a leader whose views and personality were forcefully injected into the great civic debates of his time , a man who considered himself a conciliator , but who never hesitated to be a combatant " , and one of the Catholic Church ' s " most powerful symbols on moral and political issues . " Pro - life advocacy . O ' Connor believed in protecting all human life , from the unborn to convicts on death row . He was a forceful opponent of abortion , human cloning , capital punishment , human trafficking , and unjust war . Horrified by a visit to Dachau concentration camp , O ' Connor was inspired to found a Roman Catholic religious institute that would serve the unborn and dying and be dedicated to the sanctity of all human life . In 1991 his dream was realized in the Sisters of Life . He assailed what he called the " horror of euthanasia " , asking rhetorically , " What makes us think that permitted lawful suicide will not become obligated suicide ? " In 2000 , O ' Connor called for a " major overhaul " of the punitive Rockefeller drug laws , which he believed produced " grave injustices " . Critiques of U . S . military actions . Despite his years spent as a Navy chaplain , O ' Connor offered severe critiques of some United States military policies . In the 1980s , he condemned U . S . support for counterrevolutionary guerrilla forces in Central America , opposed the U . S . ' s mining of the waters off Nicaragua , questioned spending on new weapons systems , and preached caution in regard to American military actions abroad . In 1998 , he questioned whether the United States ' cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan were morally justifiable . In 1999 , during the Kosovo War , he used his weekly column in the archdiocesan newspaper , " Catholic New York " , to challenge repeatedly the morality of NATO ' s bombing campaign of Yugoslavia , suggesting that it did not meet the Catholic Church ' s criteria for a just war , and going so far as to ask , " Does the relentless bombing of Yugoslavia prove the power of the Western world or its weakness ? " Three years before the 9 / 11 attacks on New York City , O ' Connor insisted that the traditional just war principles must be applied to evaluate the morality of military responses to unconventional warfare and terrorism . Relations with organized labor . O ' Connor ' s father had been a union member , and O ' Connor was also a passionate defender of organized labor and an advocate for the poor and the homeless . Early in his tenure , O ' Connor set a pro - labor direction for the Archdiocese . During a strike in 1984 by 1199 , the largest health care workers union in New York , O ' Connor strongly criticized the League of Voluntary Hospitals , of which the Archdiocese was a member , for threatening to fire striking union members who refused to return to work , calling it " strikebreaking " and vowing that no Catholic hospital would do so . The following year , when a contract with 1199 still had not been reached , he threatened to break with the League and settle with the union unilaterally to reach an agreement " that gives justice to the workers " . In his homily during a Labor Day Mass at St . Patrick ' s in 1986 , O ' Connor expressed his strong commitment to organized labor : [ S ] o many of our freedoms in this country , so much of the building up of society , is precisely attributable to the union movement , a movement that I personally will defend despite the weakness of some of its members , despite the corruption with which we are all familiar that pervades all society , a movement that I personally will defend with my life . . . In 1987 , when the television broadcast employees union was on strike against NBC , a non - union crew from NBC appeared at the Cardinal ' s residence to cover one of O ' Connor ' s press conferences . O ' Connor declined to admit them , directing his secretary to " tell them they ' re not invited . " Following his death , SEIU 1199 , published a 12 - page tribute to O ' Connor , calling him " the patron saint of working people " and describing his support for low - wage and other workers and his efforts in helping limousine drivers unionize , helping end the strike at The Daily News in 1990 , and pushing for fringe benefits for minimum - wage home health care workers . Relations with the Jewish community . O ' Connor played an active role in Catholic - Jewish relations . He strongly denounced anti - Semitism , declaring that one " cannot be a faithful Christian and an anti - Semite . They are incompatible , because anti - Semitism is a sin . " He wrote an apology to Jewish leaders in New York for past harm done to the Jewish community . O ' Connor criticized Swiss banks ' failure to compensate victims of the Holocaust , which he called " a human rights issue , an issue of the human race . " Even when disagreeing with him over political questions , Jewish leaders acknowledged that O ' Connor was " a friend , a powerful voice against anti - Semitism " . The Jewish Council for Public Affairs called him , " a true friend and champion of Catholic - Jewish relations [ and ] a humanitarian who used the power of his pulpit to advocate for disadvantaged people throughout the world and in his own community . " Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel called O ' Connor , " a good Christian " and a man " who understands our pain . " Relations with the gay community . O ' Connor adhered to the Catholic teaching that homosexual acts are contrary to natural law , intrinsically immoral and therefore never permissible , while homosexual desires are intrinsically disordered but not in themselves sinful . O ' Connor actively opposed Executive Order 50 , a mayoral order issued in 1980 by Mayor Ed Koch , which required all city contractors , including religious entities , to provide services on a non - discriminatory basis with respect to race , creed , age , sex , handicap , as well as " sexual orientation or affectational preference " . After the Salvation Army received a warning from the City that its contracts for child care services would be canceled for refusing to comply with the executive order ' s provisions regarding sexual orientation , the Archdiocese of New York and Agudath Israel , an Orthodox Jewish organization , threatened to cancel their contracts with the City if forced to comply . O ' Connor maintained that the executive order would cause the Church to appear to condone homosexual practices and lifestyle . Writing in " Catholic New York " in January 1985 , O ' Connor characterized the order as " an exceedingly dangerous precedent [ that would ] invite unacceptable governmental intrusion into and excessive entanglement with the Church ' s conducting of its own internal affairs . " Drawing the traditional Catholic distinction between homosexual " inclinations " and " behavior " , he stated that " we do not believe that homosexual behavior . . . should be elevated to a protected category . " We do not believe that religious agencies should be required to employ those engaging in or advocating homosexual behavior . We are willing to consider on a case - by - case basis the employment of individuals who have engaged in or may at some future time engage in homosexual behavior . We approach those who have engaged in or may engage in what the Church considers illicit heterosexual behavior the same way . . . We believe , however , that only a religious agency itself can properly determine the requirements of any particular job within that agency , and whether or not a particular individual meets or is reasonably likely to meet such requirements . Subsequently , the Salvation Army , the Archdiocese and Agudath Israel , together with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry , brought suit against the City of New York to overturn the executive order on the grounds that the Mayor had exceeded his executive authority in issuing it . In September 1984 , the New York Supreme Court agreed with the religious entities and struck down that part of the executive order that prohibited discrimination based upon " sexual orientation or affectational preference " on the grounds that the Mayor had exceeded his authority . In June 1985 , New York ' s highest court upheld the lower court ' s decision striking down the executive order . O ' Connor vigorously and actively opposed City and State legislation guaranteeing the civil rights of homosexual persons , including legislation ( supported by then - Mayors Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani ) prohibiting discrimination based upon sexual orientation in housing , public accommodations and employment . O ' Connor also supported the decision by the Ancient Order of Hibernians to exclude the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization from marching as such under its own banner in New York ' s St . Patrick ' s Day parade . The Hibernians argued that their decision as to which organizations may march in the parade , which honors St . Patrick , a Catholic saint , was protected by the First Amendment and that they could not be compelled to admit a group whose beliefs conflicted with theirs . In 1992 , in a decision criticized by the New York Civil Liberties Union , the City of New York ordered the Hibernians to admit the gay organization to march in the parade . The city subsequently denied the Hibernians a permit for the parade until , in 1993 , a federal judge in New York held that the city ' s permit denial was " patently unconstitutional " because the parade was private , not public , and constituted " a pristine form of speech " as to which the parade sponsor had a right to control the content and tone . In 1987 , O ' Connor had prohibited DignityUSA , an organization of gay Catholics , from holding masses in parishes in the archdiocese . After eight years of protests by the group , O ' Connor started meeting with the group twice a year . HIV and contraception controversy . The Cardinal opposed condom distribution as an AIDS - prevention measure , viewing it as being contrary to the Church ' s teaching that contraception is immoral and its use a sin . O ' Connor rejected the argument that condoms distributed to gay men are not contraceptives . O ' Connor ' s response was that using an " evil act " was not justified by good intentions , and that the Church should not be seen as encouraging sinful acts among others ( other fertile heterosexual couples who might wrongly interpret his narrow support as license for their own contraception ) . He also claimed that sexual abstinence is a sure way to prevent infection , claiming condoms were only 50 % effective against HIV transmission . HIV activist group ACT UP was appalled by the Cardinal ' s apparent opinion that it was sinful for an HIV positive person to use a condom to prevent transmission of HIV to his HIV negative partner , an opinion they believe would translate directly into more deaths . This caused many of the confrontations between the group and the Cardinal . Early on in the AIDS epidemic , he approved the opening of a specialized AIDS unit to provide medical care for the sick and dying in the former St . Clare ' s Hospital in Manhattan , the first of its kind in the state . He often nurtured and ministered to dying AIDS patients , many of whom were homosexual . Even though he frequently condemned homosexuals — some members of ACT UP had protested in front of St . Patrick ' s Cathedral in his absence , to protest , holding placards such as " Cardinal O ' Connor Loves Gay People . . . If They Are Dying of AIDS " — ) he would not allow his moral differences to interfere with ministering to them . In 1987 , O ' Connor was appointed to President Ronald Reagan ' s President ' s Commission on the HIV Epidemic , also known as the Watkins Commission , serving alongside 12 other members , few of whom were AIDS experts , including James D . Watkins , Richard DeVos , and Penny Pullen . The Commission was initially controversial among HIV researchers and activists as lacking expertise on the disease and as being in disarray . The Watkins Commission surprised many of its critics , however , by issuing a final report in 1988 that lent conservative support for antibias laws to protect HIV - positive people , on - demand treatment for drug addicts , and the speeding of AIDS - related research . The " New York Times " praised the Commission ' s " remarkable strides " and its proposed $ 2 billion campaign against AIDS among drug addicts . The Watkins Commission ' s recommendations were similar to the recommendations subsequently made by a committee of HIV experts appointed by the National Academy of Sciences . On December 10 , 1989 , 4 , 500 members of ACT UP ( Aids Coalition to Unleash Power ) and WHAM ( Womens Health Action and Mobilization ) held a demonstration at Saint Patricks Cathedral to voice their opposition to the Cardinals to AIDS education , the distribution of condoms in public schools and his position on abortion , of which 43 people were arrested inside the cathedral . At the time it was the largest demonstration against the Catholic church in history and remained so until Pope Benedict XVI ' s visit in 2010 to the UK caused protests by approximately 20 , 000 people . Illness and death . When O ' Connor reached the retirement age for bishops of 75 in January 1995 , he submitted his resignation to Pope John Paul II as required by Church law , but the Pope did not accept it . He was diagnosed in 1999 as having a brain tumor , from which he eventually died . He continued to serve as Archbishop of New York until his death . O ' Connor died in the Archbishop ' s residence on May 3 , 2000 and was interred in the crypt beneath the main altar of St . Patrick ' s Cathedral . Secretary - General of the United Nations Kofi Annan , President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton , Vice President Al Gore , former President George H . W . Bush , Texas Governor George W . Bush , New York Governor George Pataki and New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani were among the dignitaries who attended his funeral , which was presided over by the Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano . The eulogy was delivered by Cardinal William W . Baum . Legacy . O ' Connor was posthumously awarded the Jackie Robinson Empire State Medal of Freedom by New York Governor George Pataki on December 21 , 2000 . On March 7 , 2000 O ' Connor was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by unanimous support in the United States Senate and only one vote against the resolution in the United States House of Representatives . O ' Connor was an object of scorn and ridicule in ACT UP ' s demonstrations , the most prominent of which was a protest that disrupted Mass at St . Patrick ' s Cathedral on December 10 , 1989 . Michael Petrelis , a founding member of ACT UP , was arrested along with 110 others , including 43 inside the church , some of whom had chained themselves to pews , shouted or lay in aisles . Later , he indicated that the group " came to St . Patrick ' s in 1989 to repel the church ' s destructive intrusion into public policies concerning AIDS , gay civil rights and women ' s reproductive rights . " O ' Connor responded during the benediction at the interrupted Mass , " I must preach what the church preaches , teach what the church teaches . " The strong feelings that O ' Connor ' s campaigning against gay civil rights inspired were evoked at his death , when " Time Out New York " , a weekly city entertainment guide , expressed relief at his death , calling it one of the best things to happen to the gay community in 2000 , saying " The press eulogized him as a saint , when in fact , the pious creep was a stuck - in - the - 1950s anti - gay menace . Good riddance ! " . The resulting cries of outrage forced the magazine to apologize for the insensitive tone of the statement , but Time Out New York stood by its view that the Cardinal was an " impediment to gay and lesbian progress . Carmen Vázquez , a spokeswoman for the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center , opined that Cardinal O ’ Connor had " made the lives of gays and lesbians miserable with his public comments and opposition to their way of life . " Jeff Stone , a spokesman for DignityUSA , recalled the group ' s twice - annual meetings with O ' Connor : " We acknowledged that we had theological disagreements , so we tried to talk about areas where we thought we had some common ground — such as violence against gay people , " and added , " We are saddened by his death . " To honor his distinguished service as a US Navy chaplain , the Catholic Center at the Naval Postgraduate School , Monterey , CA , is named the O ' Connor Center . The largest student run pro - life conference in the U . S . is named in his honor . It is held every year at Georgetown University the day before the annual March for Life .