Stuart O'Connell

Stuart France O'Connell (11 May 1935 – 2 August 2019) was a Catholic Bishop and educationalist. He served as the fifth Catholic Bishop of Rarotonga from 1996 to 2011. O'Connell was born on 11 May 1935 in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. He completed his education at St. Patrick's College, Silverstream and entered Mount St Mary’s Seminary in 1954. He was ordained a subdeacon in December 1959, ordained to the diaconate in February 1960, and to the priesthood in July 1960. O'Connell spent several years teaching in New Zealand and served as a teacher and spiritual director at Chanel College, Moamoa, Samoa. He also studied at the Catholic University of America in 1983-1984.