O'Rourke was an activist against the Vietnam war and was one of nine people who broke into Dow Chemical offices in Washington, D.C. in 1969 and destroyed some of the company's files.
In August 1974, CFFC President Joan Harriman asked him to travel with her to Marlboro, Massachusetts, to baptize a baby whose local priests refused to perform the rite.
[3] The baby's mother, 20-year-old Carol Morreale, had been interviewed regarding an "abortion-information clinic" that was proposed for Marlboro by Bill Baird, an activist from New York City.
[4] Morreale told a newspaper reporter that she did not advocate abortion herself but that she was in favor of free choice for others and thus she supported Baird's proposal.
[7] O'Rourke continued to live with his order[7] and appealed his dismissal to Rome on the grounds that he had a right to baptize the baby.