Background
O"Hara was born in Jersey City, New Jersey and was educated in Catholic elementary and high schools there.
O"Hara was born in Jersey City, New Jersey and was educated in Catholic elementary and high schools there.
Seton Hall University.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Seton Hall University. He worked in broadcast journalism for 13 years before entering Saint Joseph"s Seminary in Dunwoodie. O"Hara was ordained a priest by Cardinal John O"Connor on December 1, 1984.
His pastoral assignments included Saint Charles parish on Staten Island from 1984 to 1992 and Saint Teresa of the Infant Jesus parish, Staten Island, from 1992 to 2012 as both parochial vicar and pastor.
O"Hara served as the director of strategic pastoral planning for the archdiocese from 2012 to 2014, where he led the "Making All Things New" parish planning process. O"Hara was named the Titular Bishop of Ath Truim and Auxiliary Bishop of New York by Pope Francis on June 14, 2014.
He was consecrated a bishop by Cardinal Timothy Dolan in Saint Patrick"s Cathedral on August 4, 2014. New York auxiliary bishops Gerald Thomas Walsh and Dominick John Lagonegro were the co-consecratiors.
Bishop O"Hara"s crosier was used by the late Cardinal Terence Cooke who had served as New York"s archbishop.