Bernard Matthew Kelly

Bernard Matthew Kelly (born May 7, 1918 in Providence , † December 5, 2006 ) was an American Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop in Providence .

Life

He was educated at Providence Catholic Elementary and Middle Schools, Providence College , the Pontifical Roman Seminary in Rome, and the Theological College of the Catholic University of America . He was ordained a priest on June 3, 1944 . After ordination he received his doctorate in canon law at the Catholic University .

He has served as an assistant pastor, teacher at La Salle Academy in Providence, chaplain of the Mother of Hope Novitiate in Warwick, and as spiritual director of Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Warwick Neck . He had also been a spouse defender at the diocesan court since 1947 . Pope Paul VI appointed him on November 25, 1963 auxiliary bishop in Providence and titular bishop of Tegea . The Bishop of Providence, Russell Joseph McVinney , ordained him bishop on January 30 of the next year ; Co- consecrators were Joseph Mark McShea , Bishop of Allentown , and Gerald Vincent McDevitt , Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia .

He attended the third and fourth sessions of the Second Vatican Council . He caused a controversy in 1971 when he called it scandalous in a sermon that churchmen care so much about abortion and yet have nothing to say about the destruction of human life in Laos . Disappointed with the Church's position on the Vietnam War , he resigned from his office as auxiliary bishop, resigned on June 14, 1971 and renounced the priesthood. He then served as director of hospital administration in Florida and then opened his own law firm in Rhode Island . In the early 1990s, he retired and moved to West Virginia , where he lived until his death.

Fonts (selection)

The functions reserved to pastors. A historical synopsis and a commentary. (= Canon law studies ). Catholic University of America Press, Washington 1947, OCLC 978273138 (also dissertation, Catholic University of America 44).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Kelly, Bernard Matthew
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop
DATE OF BIRTH	May 7, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH	Providence
DATE OF DEATH	December 5, 2006