Arthur Leo Kennedy (born January 9, 1942) is an American prelate of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who served as an

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of the

Archdiocese of Boston The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Boston), Cathedral o ...

in Massachusetts from 2010 to 2017. After retirement, Kennedy took up residence at St. Mary's Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts. Kenney currently serves as president of the new Catholic Institute of Technology in Castel Gandolfo, Italy.

Biography

Early life and education

Arthur Kennedy was born on January 9, 1942, in Boston to Arthur and Helen (O’Rourke) Kennedy. He has four brothers (Kevin, Terrence, Christopher, and Brian) and one sister (Maurabeth). Kennedy has four nieces and four nephews. Kennedy attended Longfellow Elementary School in the

Roslindale Roslindale is a primarily residential neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, bordered by Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park, West Roxbury and Mattapan. It is served by an MBTA Commuter Rail line, several MBTA bus lines and the MBTA Oran ...

section of Boston and St. Aidan Grammar School in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...

. He then entered

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

for his secondary education, graduating in 1959. Kennedy received his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in philosophy from Saint John's Seminary College in Boston in 1963.

Ordination, education and ministry

On December 17, 1966, Kennedy was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome by Bishop Francis Reh. After his ordination, Kennedy was assigned to St. Monica Parish in

Methuen, Massachusetts Methuen () is a 23-square-mile (60 km2) city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 53,059 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Methuen lies along the northwestern edge of Essex County, just east of Midd ...

. He obtained a

Licentiate of Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology (; abbreviated LTh or STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred ...

from the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

in 1967. In 1969, Kennedy was posted to St. Joseph Parish in

East Boston East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, which was annexed by the city of Boston in 1836. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Massachusetts, Winthrop, Revere, Mas ...

, serving there until 1974. In 1974, Kennedy went to Minnesota to join the faculty of the

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and Catholic Studies departments at the University of St. Thomas (UST) in St. Paul. He earned his doctorate in

systematic theology Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topics ...

/philosophy of religion in 1978 from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. In 1983, Kennedy was named as an associate professor at UST and in 2001 a full professor. While at UST, Kennedy performed pastoral duties at Holy Trinity Parish in South Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1974 to 1982 and at the Church of the Assumption in St. Paul from 1982 to 2000. Kennedy also served on the faculty of the

Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity The Saint Paul Seminary (SPS) is a Catholic major seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. A part of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, SPS prepares men to enter the priesthood and permanent diaconate, and educates lay men and women on Ca ...

in St. Paul (1990, 1995–2000, 2006) and was director of the Masters in Theology degree program. In 2002, Kennedy was appointed as executive director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic C ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

In 2007, Kennedy returned to Boston to serve as rector of Saint John's Seminary, holding that position until July 2012.

Auxiliary Bishop of Boston

On June 30, 2010,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

appointed Kennedy as

of the Archdiocese of Boston and titular bishop of Timidana. He was consecrated by Cardinal Seán O'Malley on September 14, 2010, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. Kennedy's episcopal

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

was: '' Ut cognoscant te'', meaning, "so that they may know you" from Saint John's Gospel ( John 17:3). In January 2012, Cardinal O'Malley named Kennedy as

episcopal vicar Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

for the New Evangelization of the archdiocese.

Retirement and Beyond

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

accepted Kennedy's letter of resignation as auxiliary bishop of Boston on June 30, 2017. In 2023, Kennedy accepted the position of university president at the Catholic Institute of Technology, an American

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

school based in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. That same year, Kennedy received the priest-scholar award from the Catholic Studies Department of UST.

References

External links

Biography from The Pilot

Curriculum Vitae

Remarks for News Conference

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Arthur Living people 21st-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent 1942 births Boston University School of Theology alumni University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Pontifical North American College alumni Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Religious leaders from Massachusetts