As Bishop-elect Kevin Kenney prepares for ordination and installation as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in October, Bishop Joseph Williams is no longer an auxiliary bishop and is leaving the archdiocese as coadjutor bishop of Camden, New Jersey.
Though at different times, both men have ministered in two of the same parishes with notable Latino congregations –– Divine Mercy in Faribault and Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul. Each has served as the archdiocese’s vicar for Latino Ministry, and each will have continued to minister as pastors even as they serve as bishops.
Still, Bishop-elect Kenney said, their ministry paths were separate enough that intersections with one another did not happen often. The bishop-elect, 64, said he remembers visiting parishes when he was vicar for Latino Ministry from 2010 to 2018 and at one point visiting St. Stephen in Minneapolis when then-Father Williams was working to build up the parish.
“He was just getting off the ground with small groups and meeting before and after Masses with parents in one area and children in another area. It was wonderful and it worked out very well,” Bishop-elect Kenney said in the days after the July 25 announcement of his appointment.
Bishop Williams said, “Bishop-elect Kenney is good to the core. I got to see where that goodness came from when I was assigned to the Cathedral of St. Paul (in St. Paul) as a newly ordained priest in 2002. His parents were parishioners there and happened to be celebrating their golden wedding anniversary at that time. They decided to celebrate by going on a pilgrimage to Rome which I was leading on the occasion of Mother Teresa’s beatification. Bishop-elect Kenney’s parents and my parents became fast friends.”
One enduring memory of Bishop-elect Kenney, Bishop Williams said, was struck when the bishop-elect was honored during a meeting of Latino leaders as Bishop Williams succeeded him as vicar for Latino Ministry.
“He shared how he marked the end of his tenure with a week of vacation,” Bishop Williams said. “He flew to Mexico City, where day after day he would simply watch the Mexican people draw near to their heavenly mother at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He was choked up as he recalled that beautiful image. That tells you just about everything you need to know about Bishop-elect Kenney.”
The bishop-elect said he anticipates that among other activities as bishop he will continue to minister to Latinos in the archdiocese, as had Bishop Williams, 50. The bishop-elect said his own love for the community began while he studied Spanish, spent time in Spain and joined the Spanish club as a student at DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis.
“My love for the culture and language and community kept growing,” Bishop-elect Kenney said.
After graduating from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul with degrees in business administration and Spanish, Bishop-elect Kenney said he sought ways to serve others, which led him to the Claretian Missionaries and two years of volunteer work in Chicago working with inner-city youth and teaching English as a second language.
The bishop-elect’s ministry to others has included serving as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe from 2004 to 2015, as that vibrant Latino community was growing. As he began his pastorate there, a particularly large number of immigrants from Mexico were arriving in the Twin Cities, the bishop-elect said.
“Every day, there would be more sleeping on the steps outside (the church),” Bishop-elect Kenney said. “We were known as the Spanish speaking parish in St. Paul. Lots of people were seeking resources. To be able to offer Mass in Spanish” was important, he said.
Building community in the parish at that time “was a huge learning curve,” Bishop-elect Kenney said. “You know how to do it in your head, but you have to learn it in your heart.”
One detail was particularly important: leaving the church doors open, he said.
“People were coming and going to pray. One guy –– he was ready to give up. There were locked doors at other parishes. I was able to help him, guide him to what he should do.
“It makes my heart cry when people come to the church and find it locked,” Bishop-elect Kenney said. “People need to come in and have a place to find love and to pray.”
Bishop-elect Kenney said reflecting on the fact he was appointed to the episcopate is overwhelming, and he hopes to acknowledge and celebrate it modestly. “It is bewildering. I don’t know what to expect. But I expect good things.”
“I asked Archbishop (Bernard) Hebda, ‘can we just do the ordination thing in the chapel?’ Of course, he said no.”
The bishop-elect will continue his current roles as pastor of St. Olaf in downtown Minneapolis and parochial administrator of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Minneapolis. The latter parish originally ministered to Slovak Catholics but now serves as a hub for the Ecuadorian community in the Twin Cities. Bishop-elect Kenney was the archdiocese’s vicar for Latino Ministry when then-Father Williams stepped into the role.
While auxiliary bishop, Bishop Williams continued to serve as vicar for Latino Ministry and minister as moderator of Our Lady of Guadalupe parish as a priest-in-solidum with Father James Bernard, providing pastoral care as a team.
Bishop-elect Kenney said he is looking forward to his responsibilities as an auxiliary bishop, “probably with Latino ministry and other aspects.”
