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WASHINGTON (April 3, 2002) -- Father Arthur L. Kennedy, Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, has been named Executive Director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Father Kennedy succeeds Rev. John F. Hotchkin who died last June 24. Dr. John Borelli has been serving as Interim Director of the USCCB secretariat.
"I am delighted that Father Kennedy will join the staff of the Bishops' Conference," said Msgr. William Fay, USCCB General Secretary, who announced the appointment. "He is a distinguished scholar and an experienced ecumenist, who has made major contributions to the academic community and to the life and mission of the Church."
Arthur Kennedy graduated from St. John's Seminary, Brighton , Massachusetts. He studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he earned an S.T.L. in Theology, in 1967, and Boston University, where he obtained a doctorate in Systematic Theology/Philosophy of Religion, in 1978.
He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston in 1966.
Father Kennedy was Assistant Professor, the College of St. Thomas, 1974-1983, Associate Professor, the University of St. Thomas, 1983-1997, Visiting Professor of Theology, the Angelicum, in Rome, 2000, and Visiting Professor, St. John's Seminary, Brighton, 2000-2001.
He was named the University of St. Thomas Distinguished Teacher of the Year in 1994.
Among the many posts he has held are Chairperson, Commission on Ecumenism and Interreligious Affairs of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 1987-1999; Co-Chair, Lutheran-Catholic Covenant Commission, 1987-1999; Co-Chair and Convenor, Lutheran-Roman Catholic Bishops Annual Retreat, 1987; Co-Chair, Anglican-Roman Catholic Covenant Commission, 1989-1999; Official Observer, Minnesota Council of Churches; 1987-1999; Board of Directors, National Association of Diocesan Ecumenical Officers (NADEO), 1989-1999; Co-Chair, Evangelical-Catholic Pastors' Conversations, 1998-1999. He has been a member of the Board of Directors, Jay Philips Center for Jewish Christian Learning since 1991.
Father Kennedy has written and co-authored works in the field of ecumenism. At the University of St. Thomas he has taught such courses as The Christian Theological Tradition, Christian Belief Today, Theological Methods and Resources, Christian Marriage, and Theology in the Enlightenment.
The appointment is effective August 12.