[3] Upon his return to Minnesota, O'Gorman was ordained a priest on November 5, 1865, in the Cathedral of Saint Paul.

[1] In 1885 he became the first president of the newly established College of St. Thomas, where he also served as professor of dogmatic theology.

[2] On January 24, 1896, O'Gorman was appointed the second Bishop of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, by Pope Leo XIII.

[4] He received his episcopal consecration on the following April 19 from Cardinal Francesco Satolli, with Bishops John Joseph Keane and Martin Marty, O.S.B., serving as co-consecrators, at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Washington, D.C.[4] He was later installed at Sioux Falls on May 1, 1896.

[3] During his 25-year-long tenure, he increased the number of priests and Catholics in the diocese, and erected numerous churches, schools, and hospitals.