Catholic Mission In Canada

TORONTO—Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Vatican, has confirmed the reappointment of Father Philip J. Kennedy for another five years as president of Catholic Missions In Canada.

 “I would like to extend our thanks and best wishes to Father Kennedy as he continues to serve the missionary needs of the Church in Canada,” said Cardinal Dias. 

 Fr. Kennedy will serve his second term immediately after his current term of office ends on June 30 this year.

 In a message to Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto, who is also Apostolic Chancellor of Catholic Missions In Canada, Archbishop Pedro Lopes Quintana, Apostolic Nuncio, thanked Archbishop Collins for “the generosity of sharing a priest of your Archdiocese for this most important work.”

In 2006, Fr. Kennedy, then pastor of St. James parish in Colgan, Ontario, assumed office as the 13th president of Catholic Missions In Canada, an organization established under papal mandate in 1908 to support the needs of mission churches across Canada.

Born and raised in the mining community of Sudbury, Ontario, Fr. Kennedy attended Catholic schools in the area and worked briefly in the mines before pursuing his B.A. and majoring in Classics at Laurentian University. After completing his bachelor’s degree in secondary education, he taught Latin, drama and English in Nickel District Collegiate and at Marymount College in Sudbury.
 
In 1983, he completed his seminary studies at St. Augustine Seminary and theology studies through Saint Paul University in Ottawa. He also holds a Master of Divinity from the Toronto School of Theology.                                           

Ordained a priest in 1983, Fr. Kennedy first served at St. Anne’s parish in Brampton and was seconded to the Diocese of Thunder Bay from 1988 to 1994.

Fr. Kennedy returned to the Archdiocese of Toronto in 1994, and served as pastor at St. Paul the Apostle parish in Alliston, St. Barnabas parish in Scarborough, and St. James parish in Colgan and Tottenham. He was appointed to the Priests’ Seminar Committee and served as archdiocesan director for the Pontifical Mission Societies from 1996 to 2006. He has also served on the Priests’ Personnel Board for the archdiocese.

 Fr. Kennedy is a Knights of Columbus member of Council 1388, Toronto 4^th Degree, Cardinal McGuigan Assembly in Toronto as well as Provincial Father Prior of Columbian Squires from 2007 to the present.

 For more information, please e-mail Patria Rivera, Director of Publications and Communications, Catholic Missions In Canada at editor@cmic.info, or call 416-934-3424, Ext. 226.