Assignment Record– Rev. Joseph W. Kenney

Summary of Case: One of 12 priests named as abusers in a lawsuit filed 9/02 against the Boston Archdiocese, Cardinal Law and others. Suit alleges that church officials failed to respond to complaints of sexual abuse, protected the perpetrators and sought to cover up the evidence. Kenney died in 1992. No information on victims or when abuse occurred.

Born: 1905
Ordained: 1931
Died: January 11, 1992

     

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

6/16/31

Boston archbishop was William Henry O'Connell (1907-1944), followed by Richard James Cushing (1944-1970).

6/28/58 St. Patrick's Brockton MA 4/4 ,3/4, 2/4 Parish had a grade school with 206-292 boys and 223-437 girls. Beginning in 1944 it also had a high school with 31-9 boys and 113-163 girls.
6/29/58 3/31/69 Our Lady of the Rosary Stoughton MA 1/2  

4/01/69

Humberto Sousa Medeiros succeeded Cushing (1970-1983), followed by Bernard Francis Law (1984-2002).

1/11/92 St. Patrick's

Brockton

• Named in a 2002 lawsuit against the Boston archdiocese as a perpetrator of child sexual abuse. (Boston Globe
September 19, 2002)

MA 1/4, 1/3, 1/5, 2/3, 3/3, 4/4, 2/2, 3/4

Parish had a grade school with 151-97 boys and 175-85 girls, until 1972.

 

Kenney retired in 1980. He died January 11, 1992


Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1932-1993)

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Kenney's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on March 19, 2010.