Father Kevin Thomas Kenney, a St. Thomas alumnus who is adjunct faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences Theology Department at the University of St. Thomas, has been tapped by Pope Francis to become an auxiliary bishop with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Kenney earned degrees in business administration and Spanish from St. Thomas.

As an auxiliary bishop, Bishop-elect Kenney will work alongside Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Auxiliary Bishop Michael J. Izen to lead the Church in the 12-county metro area.

Of his appointment, Kenney said, “My phone rang on Saturday afternoon in late June as I had just settled into my office chair to prepare for weekend Masses. I noticed the area code 202, Washington, D.C., and I said to myself, ‘No, it can’t be.’”

Cardinal Christophe Pierre was on the other end of the call with the news. Kenney said he had to take a few days to think about accepting this role. At 64 years old, he said during the press conference, all of his friends and relatives have been retiring and he had been thinking about his own retirement possibilities.

“I knew it was an honor to be chosen by Pope Francis, and all the readings that weekend and week ahead pointed me in a direction I was hesitant to go,” he said. “I battled between my head and my heart and finally succumbed to saying, ‘Yes.’”

Archbishop Hebda said in a news release, “I am grateful that the Holy Father has recognized in Bishop-elect Kenney the same exceptionally compassionate priestly heart that I have come to know in the nine years that I have been serving here. I look forward to collaborating in a new way with Bishop-elect Kenney as he assumes his new role.”

Father Chris Collins, SJ, the vice president for mission at the University of St. Thomas, said, “We congratulate Father Kenney and celebrate with many in the local church with this news of his appointment.”

Collins added that for several years Kenney has been teaching at St. Thomas and contributing to the formation of Spanish-speaking lay leaders within the archdiocese through the Theology Department’s Certificate in Lay Ministry program, which offers classes in Spanish.

Kenney, a Minneapolis native, was ordained a priest in 1994 after attending The Saint Paul Seminary. He becomes the 39th priest from The Saint Paul Seminary who went on to become a bishop, according to a post on the seminary’s website. As part of his new assignment, he will return to the seminary’s Board of Trustees (where he served from 2001-07), playing a strategic role in the formation of future priests, deacons and lay leaders for the Catholic Church in the Upper Midwest and beyond.

In addition to his roles at St. Thomas and the seminary, Kenney is currently the pastor of the Church of St. Olaf in downtown Minneapolis, the parochial administrator of the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Minneapolis, and chaplain at DeLaSalle High School.

Kenney's episcopal ordination, where he will be assigned the titular see of Cunavia, is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, at the Cathedral of St. Paul. The ordination will be livestreamed on the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Facebook page.