Andrew Joseph McDonald

Andrew Joseph McDonald (October 24, 1923 – April 1, 2014) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Little Rock from 1972 to 2000. He spent his retirement at the St. Joseph Home for the Elderly in Palatine, Illinois, and died there on April 1, 2014.

The second youngest of 12 children, McDonald was born in Savannah, Georgia to James Bernard and Theresa (née McGrael) McDonald. After graduating from Marist School for Boys, he studied at St. Charles College in Catonsville, Maryland and at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, from where he obtained a Licentiate of Sacred Theology (1948).

McDonald was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Emmet M. Walsh on May 8, 1948. He then furthered his studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, there earning a Doctorate in Canon Law in 1951. Upon his return to the United States, he became chancellor of the Diocese of Savannah, official of the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal, and curate of Port Wentworth. He was named a Papal Chamberlain in 1956 and a Domestic Prelate in 1959. From 1963 to 1972 he served as pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church; during this time, he was also named vicar general of the diocese in 1967.