William Kenney

William Leonard Kenney, C.P. (born 7 May 1946) is an English Roman Catholic prelate who served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Stockholm from 1987 to 2006 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Birmingham from 2006 until his retirement in 2021. His titular see is Midica since 1987.

Early life and education William Kenney was born on 7 May 1946 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and was raised in Birmingham in the parish of Saints Mary and John, Gravelly Hill. He attended St Philip's Grammar School in Edgbaston. He entered the Passionist congregation, making his religious profession in 1963, and was ordained to the priesthood on 29 June 1969 by George Dwyer.

Episcopal ministry On 13 May 1987, Pope John Paul II appointed Kenney auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Stockholm and titular bishop of Midica. He received episcopal consecration on 24 August 1987 from Hubertus Brandenburg.

During his years in Sweden he was active in Catholic charitable and ecumenical work. From 1991 to 1999 he served as chairman of Caritas Europa and vice-president of Caritas Internationalis. He later became a member of the Legal Affairs Commission of Caritas Internationalis and represented bishops' conferences within the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE).

Kenney has been involved extensively in ecumenical dialogue, particularly with the Lutheran churches. In 2018 he was appointed Catholic co-president of the International Lutheran–Catholic Commission on Unity.

On 7 May 2021, Pope Francis accepted Kenney's resignation upon reaching the canonical retirement age of 75.

Recognition In 2019, Kenney celebrated the silver jubilee of his episcopal ministry in Birmingham, marking 25 years since the beginning of his episcopal service.