Bishop Timothy O’Malley: Priest, lawyer, CPA, one of 14 siblings

In the weeks following his appointment as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Chicago, Bishop Timothy O’Malley still felt humbled by the news.

“It’s pretty amazing because there are a lot of great priests here in the Archdiocese of Chicago and to surge to the front, that’s pretty amazing to me,” Bishop O’Malley said.

Bishop O’Malley, 65, has been named vicar of Vicariate I and the titular bishop of Numida.

Before his appointment, he had been pastor of Most Blessed Trinity Parish in Waukegan since 2018. Before that, he served as pastor of St. James Parish, Highwood (2002-2007), St. Joseph Parish, Round Lake (2007-2015) and St. Genevieve Parish on the Northwest Side (2015-2018).

His first parish assignment was as associate pastor of St. Agnes of Bohemia (1997-2002), immediately after being ordained. In addition to his master of divinity and baccalaureate of sacred theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, he earned a bachelor’s degree in management from Purdue University, a CPA from the University of Illinois and a law degree from DePaul University.

After finishing his bachelor’s degree at Purdue, he spent a period of discernment with the Society of Jesus, but determined that was not where God was calling him.

“I thought that meant priesthood wasn’t for me, and so I kind of went on with my life and I thought, ‘How about another degree?’ And I decided to study law,” Bishop O’Malley said.

He went to DePaul University during the evenings while working in accounting and managing Palos Country Club, his family’s business. Managing the country club laid the foundation for his understanding that parishes aren’t “cookie cutter things.”

“Running a golf course with a banquet hall with a restaurant, there are a few things going,” he said. “Certainly this parish [Most Blessed Trinity] is like that,” he said.

The call to priesthood, which began in childhood, returned a year after finishing law school.

“I had been dating and dating didn’t feel like that was what I wanted, marriage,” he said. “At some point in prayer, I felt, you know, these kids in Chicago, they don’t get to be kids anymore. There’s so much violence, drugs, alcohol, other things, really. I said, ‘God, you got to do something about this.’”

As he looks back on those days of prayer, he realizes he felt he heard God’s voice asking what he himself was going to do about those problems. That led him to archdiocesan priesthood.

People have always responded to Bishop O’Malley, said older brother Dan O’Malley.

Dan O’Malley recalled a class reunion at Sts. Faith, Hope and Charity School about 10 years ago, where Bishop O’Malley celebrated an afternoon Mass that was followed by a reception. During the reception, Bishop O’Malley received a standing ovation even though he only attended the school for a year or two and wasn’t an eight-year alum, Dan O’Malley said.

“He must be a master communicator because they love him,” he said.

Afterward, during dinner, people who had never met his brother before introduced Dan as “Father Tim’s brother.”

“For the rest of my life I’ve been known as ‘Father Tim’s brother,’” Dan O’Malley said, laughing.

Being one of 14 children — 10 boys and four girls — has served his brother well in priesthood, Dan O’Malley said.

“Tim was always very smart,” said Dan O’Malley. “But his way of working with people was honed, I think, in part by being in that big family. He’s in the middle of the family, so he’s a good listener. You don’t get to say a whole lot when you’re in the middle.”

The family wasn’t surprised when Bishop O’Malley pursued a vocation to the priesthood, his brother said.

“He would spend more time at church. There were other ones [siblings] that did it, but he was noticeable in his devotion.”

His brother has a gift for quickly putting people at ease, too, Dan O’Malley said.

He recalled a time when, shortly after Bishop O’Malley’s ordination to the priesthood, Dan O’Malley was having gallbladder surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and his brother was “doing his rounds” as a chaplain.

At that time, people having procedures waited in a large room that was very loud, Dan O’Malley said.

“There must have been 200 people there, maybe 100 people were having surgery and the rest were their family,” he said.

The entrance to the room was elevated and everyone could see whoever was entering.

“This was early in the morning. I’m sitting there with my wife and Tim walks in, and he’s got the collar on and this place goes from this real loud kind of festive early-morning kind of set up to drop-dead silence. It was like you could hear a pin drop,” Dan O’Malley said. “People see the collar and they get worried.”

So Dan O’Malley stood up and loudly called to his brother: “’Good morning, Father Tim, how’s it all going?’ And he goes, ‘It’s all great today. It’s a fabulous day, isn’t it?’ And everybody goes right back to talking. He took them right out of being concerned.”

Dan O’Malley also remembers Christmas Masses when his children were little. His family would attend wherever Bishop O’Malley was celebrating Mass.

“It was all about the kids,” he said. “He’d bring them up on, near and on top of — I mean, they were all over the altar. And he would be joking with them and having fun with them.”

Dan O’Malley said he has no doubt his brother will be a good bishop.

“He’s never been one to sit still, and a bishop can’t sit still,” he said. “They’ve got to be everywhere. That’s normal for him.”

He also has a heart for pastoral work.

“The most important thing that he feels he can do for someone is when they knock on the door at 2 a.m. at the rectory,” he said. “He really wants to help in that situation. If there is a crisis, he wants to help.”

Retired Auxiliary Bishop George Rassas agreed.

“He never seems to be flustered by anything,” Bishop Rassas said. “He’s been a great pastor to his people. I know they are all delighted that he’s become a bishop and that he will be the vicar here in Vicariate I.”

Bishops Rassas and O’Malley have been friends for many years and share the childhood parish of Sts. Faith, Hope and Charity. He was “delighted” that Bishop O’Malley was chosen as a bishop.

“The lawyer part and the CPA part certainly have served him well, but neither one comes close to eclipsing him as a pastor of his people,” Bishop Rassas said. “That’s first and foremost in his mind and heart.”