Released from hospital, Bishop O'Connell greets pope

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The day after being released from Rome’s Santo Spirito Hospital, Bishop David M. O’Connell of Trenton, N.J., had a heart-to-heart moment with Pope Francis.

Bishop O’Connell, who suffered a heart attack Jan. 4 and underwent an emergency procedure at Santo Spirito to open a blocked artery, attended Pope Francis’ weekly general audience Jan. 10.

The bishop told Catholic News Service that when he went up to greet the pope at the end of the audience, Pope Francis said, “Again?”

Arriving in Rome a few days before joining a group of Trenton priests on pilgrimage, Bishop O’Connell had attended the general audience Jan. 3 and greeted the pope then, too.

The first thing Bishop O’Connell did Jan. 10 was to show Pope Francis where the priests were seated in the audience hall and, he said, tell the pope that “they all are loyal to you and love you.” The pope nodded.

The bishop also briefly told the pope about his heart attack, touching his own heart first and then the pope’s.

The Diocese of Trenton said Jan. 9 that the bishop was expected to return to New Jersey “later this week as planned with the priests of the diocese who had been on pilgrimage. He will continue his recovery, along with rehabilitation, at home upon his return.”