Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle
Bishop Kennedy was born and raised in Wagga Wagga, NSW. After completing tertiary study, he taught at Albury’s Xavier Catholic College for three years. He entered Vianney College, the Wagga Wagga diocesan seminary, in 1992 and carried out some of his academic studies in Rome. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Wagga Wagga in 1999. In 2011, he was appointed Bishop of Armidale, and was ordained bishop in February 2012. Bishop Kennedy said he accepts his new appointment “willingly and heartily … knowing that like all new endeavours, it will hold both joys and challenges”. “To be the chief pastor leading a diocese in worship, teaching, evangelisation and governance is an awesome privilege and responsibility,” he said. “It is one I will undertake in Maitland-Newcastle with trust in God and with confidence in the cooperation of the clergy, religious and lay faithful of the diocese. All of us, through Baptism.