Bishop Donnelly  served as Auxiliary Bishop of the diocese of Toledo from 1984 until his retirement in May of 2006. As Auxiliary Bishop, Bishop Donnelly assisted the late Bishop Hoffman and more recently Bishop Blair in providing episcopal ministry to the 19 counties of the diocese.  Bishop Donnelly also served as Vicar General and as Secretary of the diocesan Administrative Services Secretariat and of the Personnel Secretariat. In 2003, during the period between the death of Bishop Hoffman and the appointment of Bishop Blair, Bishop Donnelly served as the Diocesan Administrator.

Bishop Donnelly was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Toledo on May 25, 1957 at Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral. He first served as an Associate Pastor in Fostoria and Toledo parishes, and then as Pastor of parishes in Landeck - Spencerville and Sandusky. His priestly assignments also included faculty memberships at Fostoria’s Saint Wendelin High School, Oregon’s Cardinal Stritch High School and Saint John High School in Delphos, Ohio.

A faithful advocate of social justice, Bishop Donnelly has served on Church and civic boards through the years, most recently as a member of the U.S. Bishops’ Pastoral Practices Committee, Evangelization Committee and African American Catholics Committee. 

Bishop Donnelly holds a Master’s Degree in Theology from Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy from Saint Meinrad College Seminary, and has attended graduate school programs at Mount Saint Mary Seminary in Norwood, Ohio, Xavier University in Cincinnati, and the University of Toledo. He is a graduate of Toledo Central Catholic High School and Blessed Sacrament elementary school in Toledo.