In February, O’Connor caused controversy when he positioned himself beside a group of other priests near the altar at the funeral service for Fr David Keating at St Mary’s Church in Ballygunner, Co. Waterford.
He was confronted by the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinan, who asked
O’Connor – who was dressed all in black – to leave the area in front of hundreds of mourners.
Up to 28 members of the clergy, including Bishop Cullinan, attended the service.
In a statement released afterwards, the Bishop said he was concerned that O’Connor – who was defrocked following an internal Church investigation into abuse allegations – was ‘presenting as a priest’.
He said O’Connor was twice asked to leave the service ‘but declined to do so’.
Despite being photographed beside clergy members at the back of the altar, O’Connor – a former president of St John’s College seminary – this week insisted he was not trying to give the impression that he was officiating at the service.
He said that, after he entered the church, he noticed that a seat was free ‘beside one of my past students I hadn’t seen in 30 years’.
‘I said to him [former student], “I’m delighted to get this seat. There’s nothing left.”’
O’Connor said he was then approached by Bishop Cullinan and asked to leave but he refused do so.
Defending his decision, he told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘There was nowhere else to go and anyway, since he has dismissed me from the priesthood, he’s not in a position to tell me to do anything… and he doesn’t accept that, I think.’
The former priest claimed the Bishop threatened to ‘forcibly remove me, but I just said: “Are you going to assault me?”’
He added: ‘He took his hands off me then but he wouldn’t be… I still don’t think he’d be physically capable of doing that at this point.’
The day after the funeral, when asked about the incident on the street, Bishop Cullinan said O’Connor wasn’t ‘on the altar’ and accused this reporter of having ‘respect for neither God nor man’.
He subsequently tried to ring O’Connor and left a voice message on his phone saying: ‘Michael. Damien Tiernan of WLR [local radio station] is asking questions as to why you were where you were yesterday. So now I’m afraid the proverbial has hit the pan, and it’s all your fault. You just wait and see what you’ve caused.’
A recording of the funeral Mass has not been made available.
Parish priest Fr Liam Power, said that it was ‘a mistake and oversight’ the service was not recorded.
Speaking about the stand-off in the church in the days after the funeral, Fr Power said O’Connor had been on the altar and that was why he and Bishop Cullinan had asked him to leave.
‘It was insensitive, embarrassing and disrespectful and we were unapologetic in asking him to vacate the location,’ said Fr Power, adding that no physical altercation had taken place.