At the Vatican in Rome last February, at the request of Archbishop Leonard Blair, Pope Francis conferred Papal Honors on fourteen people from the Archdiocese of Hartford, in recognition of their service to the Church . These papal honors were bestowed by the Holy Father on the occasion and in recognition of the 175th anniversary of the creation of the (Arch)Diocese of Hartford.

Mr. Robert J. O’Hara and Mr. Jean-Pierre van Rooy, both from Saint Catherine of Siena Parish, were two of the fourteen honorees upon whom the Holy Father bestowed these papal honors, both received the Knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory the Great.

The Order of St. Gregory the Great is given in recognition of service to the Holy See and to the Roman Catholic Church, through unusual labors, support of the Holy See, and the excellent example set forth in both communities and country. The Pontifical Order of St. Gregory the Great (Latin: Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni); was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory, XVI, seven months after his election to that seat by the College of Cardinals.

The Order of St. Gregory the Great is one of the five Orders of Knighthood of the Holy See. The honor is bestowed upon Roman Catholic men and women (and sometimes in rare cases to non-Catholics). The inaugural brief states, in part, that "gentlemen of proven loyalty to the Holy See who, by reason of their nobility of birth and the renown of their deeds or the degree of their munificence, are deemed worthy to be honored by a public expression of esteem on the part of the Holy See. The end of the brief also states that they must “progressively maintain, by continued meritorious deed, the reputation and trust they had already inspired, and prove themselves worthy of the honor that had been conferred on them, by unswerving fidelity to God and to the sovereign Pontiff.”


Bob O’Hara has served the Church in various roles including but not limited to: former President of the AOH School Board, an active member of Saint Catherine of Siena Parish (parish council, Capital Campaign Co-chair), extraordinary minister of the Eucharistic at St. Francis Hospital), a Knight of Malta, chair of the Malta House of Care Foundation, a prison ministry volunteer, a board member of St. Justin Food Pantry in Hartford as well as a board member of Northwest Catholic High School. Bob was an executive at United Technologies and has worked at the White House, the Pentagon and the National Security Council.

J.P. van Rooy who was born in Belgium is the founder of the Order of Malta Hartford Region and co-founder of the Malta House of Care (mobile clinic for the uninsured of Greater Hartford). While he served as CEO of Otis Elevator he also gave his time and talents to the Boards at St. Francis Hospital, Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem, and the Crudem clinic in Haiti. He has also participated in 11 (Knights of Malta) pilgrimages to Lourdes with the “Malades” and founded a Hispanic ministry of “Peregrinación Para Los Enfermos” (a pilgrimage for the ill in the Hispanic community) as well as served on the boards of directors at Holy Apostles College in Cromwell, Connecticut, along with Miss Porter’s School, the Wadsworth Atheneum and the University of Hartford. A Catholic Man involved in the
Community indeed.

The twelve other papal honorees are: (Knights and Dames of the Order of St. Gregory the Great) Pauline Olsen, MD and Attorney John Sitarz; and the 10 recipients of the Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice Cross are: Fracis Ahern, Bernadette Foley, Myles Hubbard, Arturo Iriarte, Sister Dolores Lahr, CSJ, Sister Mary Clare Millea, ASCJ, Ilse Nigro, Deacon Martin O’Connor and Marcia Wetherbee. Congratulations and best wishes to all the Papal Honorees for a lifetime of good works in carrying out Christ’s own mission and ministry through His Church.