The Cardinal speaks to these concerns in the light of the Catholic faith, illustrating how Christ works through the Church to provide us with answers to these questions and to show us the way to live. In doing so, he reveals what he is like as a man and as a priest. He tells what it was like for him growing up Catholic in this country and why he became a priest. We go with him to befriend a woman dying Of AIDS, to bless a retarded child. We share his anguish at the problems facing young people today. We get caught up in his enthusiasm for the possibilities which lie before them and in his confidence that, guided by the light of Christ's teachings, they can find solutions to the problems which their generation must face and make this world a better place in which to live.
John Cardinal O'Connor, Archbishop of New York, was ordained a priest in 1945 and
shortly thereafter became a chaplain in the United States Navy. He was appointed
Auxiliary to the Military Vicar in April of 1979 and was consecrated Bishop a month
later. He rose to the position of Admiral in the service where he remained until his
appointment as Bishop of Scranton in 1983. In January of 1984 he was appointed
Archbishop of New York and was installed in that See on March 19th of that year,
succeeding Terence Cardinal Cooke. His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, elevated him to
the position of Cardinal Priest, May 25, 1985.