MOST REVEREND SALVATORE MATANO, BISHOP OF ROCHESTER, TO SERVE AS HOMILIST FOR ANNUAL RED MASS; Catholic Lawyers Guild to Present St. Thomas More Award to Attorney Laurel Ann O’Connor of Derry

MOST REVEREND SALVATORE MATANO, BISHOP OF ROCHESTER, TO SERVE AS HOMILIST FOR ANNUAL RED MASS

 Catholic Lawyers Guild to Present St. Thomas More Award

to Attorney Laurel Ann O’Connor of Derry

(MANCHESTER)  Most Reverend Peter A. Libasci, the tenth Bishop of Manchester, has invited people of all faith traditions to join him for the celebration of the 2014 Red Mass on Tuesday, October 7, 2014, at 5:15 p.m. at Saint Joseph Cathedral on the corner of Pine and Lowell Streets in Manchester.  The Most Reverend Salvatore R. Matano, Bishop of Rochester, will serve as the guest homilist at the Red Mass this year.  

 

Each year, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Manchester invites women and men associated with the study and administration of justice in New Hampshire to a special celebration at Saint Joseph Cathedral in Manchester.  This annual event is an opportunity for the entire judicial, legal, law enforcement, and legislative communities to gather with those who administer law in the Church for an evening of prayer for strength and guidance in their respective work.

 

Immediately following the Red Mass, the Catholic Lawyers Guild of New Hampshire will hold its annual dinner at Fratello’s Italian Grille, 155 Dow Street, Manchester, New Hampshire at which Attorney Laurel Ann O’Connor of Derry will be honored with the St. Thomas More Award.  Each year, the Guild presents the Award to a lawyer or judge who is a practicing Catholic and who embodies the spirit of St. Thomas More in his or her courage, dedication, integrity, civility, and compassion toward others. Attorney O’Connor is the ninth recipient of the award.

 

Tickets to the Dinner are $30.00.  RSVP by September 30, 2014, to Annette Desmond, Diocese of Manchester, PO Box 310, Manchester, NH  03105.

The Most Rev. Salvatore R. Matano, Ninth Bishop of Rochester

Bishop Matano was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island.  He attended Our Lady of Providence Seminary College in Warwick, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy.

In 1971, he was ordained to the priesthood by James Cardinal Hickey in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. He attended the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he was awarded a Licentiate Degree in Sacred Theology in 1972, and later received a Doctorate in Canon Law in 1983 from that same university.

Bishop Matano served as Assistant Pastor at Our Lady of Grace Parish in Johnston, Rhode Island and as a faculty member of Our Lady of Providence Seminary High School in Providence from 1972-1977.  Bishop Matano subsequently served in various roles in the Chancery of the Diocese of Providence, including the Assistant Chancellor, Vicar General, and Moderator of the Curia and as a pastor of a parish in the Diocese. The Bishop also enjoyed five years as a Special Lecturer in the Undergraduate and Graduate Departments of Theology at Providence College of the Dominican Fathers, between 1995 and 2000.

Bishop Matano served as Secretary to the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington, DC from 1991-1992 and again from 2000-2005.  In 2005, he was ordained as Bishop of Burlington, VT.  In January 2014, Bishop Matano was installed as Bishop of Rochester, NY.

 

Laurel Ann O’Connor, Esq.

Laurel O’Connor earned her law degree from Suffolk University Law School.  From 1998 to 2008, she served as Staff Attorney and Director of the Senior Citizens Law Project at New Hampshire Legal Aid.  From 2009 to 2011, she worked as a contract lawyer for the Administrative Prosecutions Unit of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. In July 2011, she joined the New Hampshire Department of Justice, working in the same capacity at the Administrative Prosecutions Unit, where she is currently employed. She is Discipline Counsel on the New Hampshire Board of Nursing. In March 2013, Attorney O’Connor was appointed by New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan to the position of Assistant Attorney General for a five year term.

Attorney O’Connor is a parishioner of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Derry, where she is an active volunteer. She is a certified Youth Minister who helps to run the parish Life Teen Youth Group and Confirmation Program (ninth and tenth grade religious education), and has planned and organized retreats for the youth, the religious education teachers, and women of the parish.  She is a lector and an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. In addition to her work with the parish, she is a volunteer at Pinkerton Academy, where she designs and sews costumes for the Pinkerton Players and has been a Girl Scout leader.

Attorney O’Connor lives in Derry with her husband and three children.