- Sean O'Sullivan (priest)
Sean Patrick Paul O'Sullivan, CM, BA, LL.D (
January 1 1952 –March 9 1989 ) was aCanadian politician and former priest.Born in 1952 in
Hamilton, Ontario , O'Sullivan showed an interest in politics at a young age: when he was 11 years old he worked forEllen Fairclough in her election campaign and metJohn Diefenbaker for the first time. He was educated at Bishop Ryan Secondary School andBrock University inSt. Catharines . In 1970, at age 18, he was chosen as president of the Young PCs of Canada.In 1971, Diefenbaker appointed O'Sullivan as his executive assistant, and in the 1972 election, the 20-year-old O'Sullivan was elected MP for the riding of
Hamilton—Wentworth , becoming the youngest member of theCanadian House of Commons ever at that point (in 1974, LiberalClaude-André Lachance became the youngest-ever MP). He rose quickly through the ranks of the party and was seen as a future cabinet minister or even leader. He was re-elected in 1974.However, in 1977, O'Sullivan surprised many political observers when he announced that he was leaving politics to enter the
Roman Catholic priesthood, eventually becoming Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese ofToronto , as well as publisher of The Catholic Register newspaper.O'Sullivan learned he was suffering from
leukemia in 1983. After treatment, the disease was in remission and he resumed his busy career. In 1986, he was made a Member of theOrder of Canada . With the return of his illness in 1989, O'Sullivan entered Princess Margaret Hospital inToronto for a bone marrow transplant. He died there onMarch 9 1989 , aged 37.External links
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