{{Short description|Roman Catholic bishop}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = | honorific-prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | name = Kevin Thomas Kenney | honorific-suffix = | title = Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis<br>Titular Bishop of Cunavia | image = Kevin Kenney at his consecration (cropped).jpg | image_size = | caption = Kenney at his episcopal consecration | archdiocese = Saint Paul and Minneapolis | diocese = | appointed = July 25, 2024 | enthroned = October 28, 2024 | retired = | predecessor = | successor = | other_post = Titular Bishop of Cunavia <!---------- Orders ---------->| ordination = May 28, 1994 | ordained_by = John Roach | consecration = October 28, 2024 | consecrated_by = Bernard Hebda, Peter F. Christensen, and James R. Golka <!---------- Personal details ---------->| birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1959|12|29}} | birth_place = Minneapolis, Minnesota, US | death_date = | death_place = | buried = | nationality = | alma_mater = {{unbulleted list | DeLaSalle High School | College of Saint Thomas | Catholic Theological Union | Saint Paul Seminary }} | previous_post = | motto = The love of Christ impels us | coat_of_arms = }}
{{Infobox bishopstyles | name = Kevin Thomas Kenney | dipstyle = {{ubl|His Excellency|The Most Reverend}} | offstyle = Your Excellency | relstyle = Bishop | image = Coat of arms of Kevin Thomas Kenney, Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.svg | image_size = 200px | caption = ''Azure, three pallets wavy Argent, overall to dexter the Tower of Saint Kevin Or and to sinister a Greek Celtic cross Or, charged at the center with a dove overt Argent; on a chief Or flanked to dexter by a Rose Gules, barbed and seeded Proper, and to sinister by a sheaf of wheat Or and a bunch of grapes, Purpure, leaved Vert together, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Gules, crowned and wounded Proper, enflamed Or. The shield ensigned with an episcopal cross Or behind the shield and a bishop’s galero Vert cords and twelve tassels disposed in three rows of one, two and three all Vert. On a scroll below the shield the motto: "The Love of Christ Impels Us".''<ref name="ordinationProgram">{{cite document |date= October 28, 2024 |title= The Episcopal Ordination of the Reverent Kevin Thomas Kenney |publisher= Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Print Services}} [https://archspmmainsite.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Events/2024/Episcopal+Ordination.pdf Available online]</ref> }}
'''Kevin Thomas Kenney''' (born December 29, 1959) is an American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Currently an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Kenney was born and raised in Minneapolis and attended DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis College of Saint Thomas in St. Paul. After spending time as a Claretian, Kenney was ordained as a priest of Saint Paul and Minneapolis on May 28, 1994. He was named an auxiliary bishop on July 25, 2024, and consecrated on October 28, 2024.
==Biography== === Early life === Kevin Kenney was born on December 29, 1959, to William and Dorothy Kenney and is the fifth of eight children.<ref name="TCSannouncement"/> He attended DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, where he graduated in 1978.<ref name="TCSannouncement"/> He received a received a Bachelor of Arts degree business administration and Spanish from the College of Saint Thomas in St. Paul. Through his time in high school and college, Kenney worked numerous odd jobs, including paper carrier, janitor, dishwasher, and drink vendor at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.<ref name="ordinationProgram"/>
After his college graduation, Kenney moved to Chicago to work with the Claretians as a lay volunteer.<ref name="TCSannouncement"/> After two years, they hired him as their program director.<ref name="TCSannouncement"/> After another two years, he entered formation with the Claretians and began to attend the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where he received a Master of Divinity degree.<ref name="TCSannouncement"/><ref name="bolletino" /> After five years of formation with the Claretians, he left the community and applied as a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, where he attended Saint Paul Seminary.<ref name="TCSannouncement"/>
=== Priesthood === Kenney was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of Saint Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis by Archbishop John Roach on May 28, 1994.<ref name="bolletino" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bishop Kevin Thomas Kenney |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bkenneyk.html |access-date=2025-08-07 |website=Catholic-Hierarchy}}</ref>
After his ordination, the archdiocese assigned Kenney as parochial vicar at Saint Olaf Parish in Minneapolis from 1994 to 1998, as pastor of Our Lady of Peace Parish in Minneapolis from 1998 to 2004, as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Saint Paul from 2004 to 2015, and as pastor of both Saint Michael in Kenyon and Divine Mercy Parishes in Faribault from 2015 to 2019, before his assignment as pastor of Saint Olaf in 2019.<ref name="bolletino" />
Fluent in Spanish, Kenney served as the archdiocese's vicar for Latino ministry from 2010 to 2018.<ref name="ordinationProgram" /> He has also served as an adjunct professor of theology at the University of Saint Thomas.<ref name="TCSannouncement" /> In 2021, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was on trial for the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Throughout the trial, Kenney led a daily prayer service at St. Olaf Church calling for healing and peace in the community.<ref>{{cite news |date=31 March 2021 |title=St. Olaf Catholic Church offers prayer service for all during Derek Chauvin trial |url=https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/george-floyd/st-olaf-catholic-church-offers-prayer-service-during-derek-chauvin-trial/89-d34069a4-094d-46ae-a9e2-6b20f35b5a4a |access-date=25 July 2024 |work=Kare 11}}</ref>
=== Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis === On July 25, 2024, Pope Francis appointed Kenney as auxiliary bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and titular bishop of Cunavia.<ref name="bolletino">{{cite web |title=Resignations and Appointments, 25.07.2024 |url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2024/07/25/240725a.html |website=Vatican Press Bulletin |publisher=Holy See Press Office |access-date=25 July 2024}}</ref><ref name="TCSannouncement">{{cite news |last1=Ruff |first1=Joe |title=Pope Francis names Father Kenney as auxiliary bishop of Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis |url=https://thecatholicspirit.com/featured/pope-francis-names-father-kenney-as-auxiliary-bishop-of-archdiocese-of-st-paul-and-minneapolis/ |access-date=25 July 2024 |work=The Catholic Spirit |date=July 25, 2024}}</ref> On receiving the phone call from the apostolic nuncio, Christophe Pierre, announcing the appointment, Kenney was hesitant to accept it. This was because he was already 64 years old and thinking about retirement. However, after reflecting on the daily readings of the week, he told Pierre that he would take the position.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Curry |first1=Sheree |title=Pope Francis Names St. Thomas Alum Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis |url=https://news.stthomas.edu/pope-francis-names-st-thomas-alum-auxiliary-bishop-of-the-archdiocese-of-st-paul-and-minneapolis/ |access-date=29 October 2024 |work=Newsroom {{!}} University of St. Thomas |date=26 July 2024}}</ref>
Kenney was consecrated a bishop at the Cathedral of Saint Paul on October 28, 2024, by Archbishop Bernard Hebda, with Bishops Peter F. Christensen and James R. Golka as principal co-consecrators.<ref name="ordinationProgram" /> Golka and Christensen had attended seminary with Kenney.<ref>{{cite AV media | date = October 28, 2024 | title = The Episcopal Ordination of The Most Reverend Kevin Thomas Kenney on October 28, 2024 | language = English | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c672ElOCW0A | access-date = October 28, 2024 | time = 2:43:15 | publisher = Cathedral of Saint Paul}}</ref>
==See also== {{div col}} * Catholic Church hierarchy * Catholic Church in the United States * Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States * List of Catholic bishops of the United States * Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops {{div col end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{wikiquote|Kevin Thomas Kenney}}
*[https://www.archspm.org/ Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Official Site]
==Episcopal succession== {{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box |title=Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis |before= - |after= - |years= 2024-Present | }} {{s-end}}
{{portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|Minnesota}} {{Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenney, Kevin}} Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:DeLaSalle High School (Minneapolis) alumni Category:University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) alumni Category:Catholic Theological Union alumni Category:Clergy from Minneapolis Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic priests Category:21st-century American Roman Catholic priests Category:21st-century American Roman Catholic bishops Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:Bishops appointed by Pope Francis Category:Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis