As attendees waited quietly just before 7 a.m. Mass in the chapel at St. Olaf in downtown Minneapolis, Archbishop Bernard Hebda walked to the podium and announced that Father Kevin Kenney had been selected by Pope Francis to be an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
“You’ll notice he’s wearing his zucchetto and pectoral cross, which are signs of his office,” Archbishop Hebda said. “Bishop-elect Kenney will be ordained as auxiliary bishop on the feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, October 28.”
Archbishop Hebda, before announcing Bishop-elect Kenney, reassured the congregation that despite his new role, Bishop-elect Kenney will not be leaving St. Olaf.
The bishop-elect himself said, “I’m going to keep walking with them. We’ll pray for each other, and things will be OK.”
To begin the Mass, Bishop-elect Kenney said in prayer, “We take a moment in our lives to recognize the calls that we have all received, knowing that we were called into service to serve one another in the love of Jesus Christ. Let us open our hearts to God’s grace and mercy.”
Bishop-elect Kenney said the invitation was awe-inspiring and overwhelming, wondering what his days will be like moving forward.
“What does moving forward mean?” Bishop-elect Kenney said. “But you live the questions. … I began here (at St. Olaf) 30 years ago, being ordained and as an associate under Father John Forliti and spent four years here, then came back five years ago.”
After the Mass, St. Olaf’s parish administrator, Mary Kennedy, said it is amazing that people of the archdiocese will also be able to experience Bishop-elect Kenney’s leadership.
“We’re all excited to support him on this mission,” Kennedy said. “He’s done a lot to help us with serving the poor and at-risk in the inner city as well as providing St. Olaf hospitality to all who come to the city: the workers (and) the visitors as well as her parishioners.”
Kennedy explained that, following George Floyd’s death in 2020, Bishop-elect Kenney’s leadership helped St. Olaf. During the protests, St. Olaf had to board up its exterior windows and entrances.
“It was a terrible time for the city of Minneapolis,” Kennedy said. “The first time (after Floyd’s death), we boarded up the building just like everybody else around us, and the second time (during the trial), Bishop-elect Kenney said, ‘No, we’re not going to board up because we were seen as a place of welcome and hospitality that feeds those at-risk and the people in the city. We were the only faith organization to stay open throughout that whole pandemic. I really believe Bishop-elect Kevin’s leadership was essential during that time. We’re really thankful.”
Bishop-elect Kenney said staying at St. Olaf was essential as he takes the role of auxiliary bishop, so as not to disrupt the flow of the parish’s progress. He said it’s also a sign of good faith to residents in Minneapolis.
“I think to have a place in Minneapolis is important,” Bishop-elect Kenney said. “To keep me here is telling Minneapolis that they’re valued, too.”
