Robert Daniel Conlon

Robert Conlon was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the eldest of the six children of Robert and Carla (née Holzman) Conlon. He attended St. Mary Church in Hyde Park as a child, and received the diaconate on March 9, 1974. Conlon obtained his Master's in Divinity from the Athenaeum of Ohio in 1975,

Conlon served as a deacon at St. Agnes Church in Cincinnati, where he was ordained to the priesthood on January 15, 1977. He then served as associate pastor at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Cincinnati until July 1982.

From 1981 to 1983, Conlon worked within the archdiocesan curia of Cincinnati, as director of the Office of Planning and Research and assistant chancellor. He then furthered his studies at St. Paul University in Ottawa, from where he earned his doctorate in canon law and in philosophy in January 1987. Upon his return to the United States, Conlon was made chancellor for Cincinnati and director of its Department of Executive Services. He later became pastor of Holy Redeemer Church in New Bremen on August 6, 1996.

On May 31, 2002, Conlon was consecrated as bishop with Bishops Gilbert Sheldon and Sydney Charles serving as co-consecrators. Conlon took as his episcopal motto: "Take Courage" (Daniel 10:19, John 16:33).

In 2005, the bishop led a group of volunteers to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina, after hearing Archbishop Alfred Hughes speak about the devastation that Katrina caused in his Archdiocese of New Orleans.[1]

Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he previously served as the chair of the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People from 2011 - 2014.[2]

On May 17, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Conlon the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Joliet.[3] On July 14, 2011, he was installed at the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet.[4]

Bishop Conlon wrote his first Pastoral Letter to the Diocese of Joliet on June 13, 2019, entitled "GO, HE SAID." In this letter to the faithful of the diocese, he wrote of having witnessed "an enormous decline in people's participation in the life of the Church" but that Pope Francis had inspired his attitude. He went on the write that Catholics must prepare to be missionary disciples and there was a great need for the involvement of the lay faithful.[5]

On December 27, 2019, the Diocese of Joliet announced that Conlon was taking an immediate medical leave of absence. Bishop Richard Pates, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Des Moines, was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the diocese while Conlon was on medical leave.[6] The nature of his medical condition was not specified.[7] He was the second U.S. Catholic bishop to request a leave of absence for medical reasons in December 2019, after Bishop James D. Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln.

Pope Francis accepted his resignation on May 4, 2020.[8] In a statement, Conlon said he had found 2019 "challenging": "I experienced a lot of stress and fatigue, which I did not always handle well, along with some serious medical issues, plus the death of my best friend.... I am no longer able to carry the burden of leadership of a large diocese."[7]