Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Kenney has a surprising family connection to his titular see, Cunavia in Albania.
Titular sees are suppressed or substantially reconfigured dioceses, with the location of the cathedral transferred to another location. They are given to auxiliary bishops, papal nuncios and others whose position does not place them into direct oversight of a diocese.
It happens that one of Bishop Kenney’s nieces –– Sheila, now Sister Muire Chroi Iosa of the Institute Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará, helped found a contemplative monastery in that region of Albania with her religious institute in 2019.
“It’s one of those things that God works on in a wonderful way,” Bishop Kenney said of the coincidence.
Sister Chroi Iosa was one of three or four members of the monastery’s founding team, which also ministers to women with health challenges, provides housing and faith formation for women who are university students and assists Catholic youth who come from the Albanian mountains, said her father, Pat Kenney.
Her reaction to her uncle being awarded a titular see that includes her Monastery of St. Joseph in the Albanian mountains?
“‘Oh, he’s (Bishop Kenney) got to come visit now,’” said Pat Kenney, quoting his daughter.
Also in Minnesota, there is a convent of Sister Chroi Iosa’s fellow sisters in Mankato and a house of aspirancy in St. James. A second branch of the same tree, the Religious Family of the Incarnate Word, is the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE) priests and religious brothers. IVE priests have a high school seminary in Mankato.
Mother Sophia of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará in Mankato said she and other sisters were invited to the ordination on behalf of Sister Chroi Iosa.
“Anytime that you have the ordination of a bishop, to have that fullness of Christ’s priesthood in a new person,” Mother Sophia said, “it’s always a huge grace to be able to participate in that. … It was a double blessing to be able to come. We’re very grateful and we’ve been praying really hard for Bishop Kenney.”
Mother Sophia’s group also included IVE priests and students from the high school, all of whom received a blessing from Bishop Kenney. Sister Chroi Iosa and members of her community watched the ordination online from Albania.
