James Louis Connolly

James Louis Connolly (November 15, 1894 – September 12, 1986) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Fall River from 1951 to 1970.

James Connolly was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, to Francis and Agnes (née McBride) Connolly. After graduating from B.M.C. Durfee High School in Fall River, he studied at St. Charles College in Catonsville, Maryland, and at the Sulpician Seminary in Washington, D.C. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 21, 1923. He then served as a curate at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Wellfleet until 1924, when he was sent to further his studies at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. He earned a doctorate in historical science summa cum laude in 1928 and then returned to the United States, where he was assigned to the Archdiocese of St. Paul, Minnesota. He there served as a professor and afterwards rector of St. Paul Seminary.