Bernard Matthew Kelly (May 7, 1918 – December 5, 2006) was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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. ...

Background

Born in

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on May 7, 1918, Kelly attended his elementary and middle School studies at

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

and in his studies to the priesthood at the Pontifical Roman Seminary in Rome and the Theological College of the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

in Washington, D.C. He was ordained priest on June 3, 1944. After ordination, Kelly received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

at the Catholic University in Canon Law and served as assistant pastor and as an instructor at

La Salle Academy } La Salle Academy is an American private, Catholic all-boys' high school in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. The school is run by the Eastern North American District of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. ...

in Providence. He also served as

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

of Mother of Hope Novitiate in

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States, and is the third-largest city in the state, with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Warwick is located approximately south of downtown Pr ...

and as spiritual director of Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Warwick Neck. In 1947, Kelly was named marriage defender of the Diocese of Providence.

Ordination, resignation and reconciliation with the Church

Kelly was named

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''

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'' and

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

on November 25, 1963 by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

. Russell McVinney, Bishop of Providence ordained him

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

on January 30 of the following year and his co-consecrators were

Joseph McShea Joseph Mark McShea (February 22, 1907 – November 28, 1991) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Allentown in Pennsylvania from 1961 to 1983. Early life and education McShea was b ...

, Bishop of

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, and Gerald Vincent McDevitt, Auxiliary Bishop in

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. At the forefront of the ecumenical movement came from

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, in what he participated in its third and fourth sessions, Kelly spoke in front of an evangelical Protestant congregation in 1965. In 1971, he drew controversy when, in a sermon, he called it "scandalous that churchmen are so concerned about abortion and yet have nothing to say about destruction of human life in

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

." Disappointed with the church's position on the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, he left active ministry on June 14, 1971. He later married and then served as director of a hospital in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and opened his own law firm in Rhode Island. Later on he worked as an attorney in Rhode Island and West Virginia, where he had lived since 1990; he died in Keyser in 2006.

References

Sources

*The functions reserved to pastors. A historical synopsis and a commentary. (= Canon law studies). Catholic University of America Press, Washington 1947,

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,
worldcat.org
(also dissertation, Catholic University of America 44).

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Bernard Matthew 1918 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops 20th-century American lawyers Clergy from Providence, Rhode Island Auxiliary bishops Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence Rhode Island lawyers West Virginia lawyers Lawyers from Providence, Rhode Island Bishops appointed by Pope Paul VI