About

Fr. David O’Leary is a priest and educator, whose most recent assignment before joining the staff at Good Shepherd Parish, Wayland was as Parochial Vicar at Immaculate Conception Parish in Malden/Medford. He was Administrator of Incarnation Parish in Melrose, MA. Also, Temporary Administrator at Saint Anne Parish in Readville/Hyde Park section of Boston. Before that he was Temporary Parochial Vicar at St. Patrick Parish in Natick, MA. He has served as the Administrator of Saint Margaret Parish in Burlington, MA, St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Medford, MA and the University Chaplain for Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. He was a Senior Lecturer in Religion, International Relations and Medical Ethics at Tufts University.

Born and raised in Lynn, Massachusetts, he received both his B.A. and M.Div. degrees from Saint John Seminary in Boston. He then went on to earn his M.Ed. from Boston College and S.T.L. degree from Weston Jesuit School of Theology. He completed his Doctorate in Medical and Theological Ethics at the University of Oxford in England.

He was Director of both Goddard Chapel and the Interfaith Center at Tufts University and does work in spiritual direction, retreats, pastoral counseling, engaged and marriage counseling and a range of other duties as University Chaplain. He also serves as ethicist for many hospitals and nursing care facilities in Massachusetts.

Fr. Dave has done shows for broadcast for Catholic TV on topics such as “Catholic Citizenship”, “Praying with the Scripture” and “Understanding the Bible”. He has been interviewed on National Public Radio and featured in multiple articles in the Boston Globe. He has additionally written articles for the Boston Globe including “When Adults Become Abusers of Young People” and has published many books.

He has been elected to membership in the American Academy of Religion, Catholic Theological Society of America, The Council on Faith & International Affairs, North American Interfaith Network and the Society of Christian Ethics.

Fr. Dave received the Papal honor of being Knighted as a Canon in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

He was ordained in 1985 for service in the Archdiocese of Boston.