Rev. Robert T. Kennedy
Deceased: 2019-03-28
Diocese: NEW YORK
CSM Graduation Year: 1962
Rev. Robert T. Kennedy, 89, passed away on March 28, 2019. He was the loving son of the late Thomas and Mary Kennedy; beloved brother of the late Thomas J. Kennedy, Jr., and his late wife Mary; dear uncle of Richard J. Kennedy (Janice) and the late Barbara Kennedy Shortell and her late husband, John; great-uncle of Christopher Shortell (Tracy), Catherine Nuzzo (Chris), and Meghan Fratantonio (Eric); beloved great-great uncle to Ryan and Zack Shortell, and beloved cousin of Ellen and G. Ann Kiel. He also leaves behind numerous cousins and friends.
Uncle Bob was devoted to his late niece Barbara and her family in his “second home” of Wallingford. From presiding at Barbara and John’s wedding in 1970, to the annual Christmas Eve mass in their home, and numerous baptisms, first communions, weddings and funerals, he was a source of strength, comfort and love for the Shortell family.
Father Bob was a 1950 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, and followed that by earning his law degree from Harvard Law in 1953. He worked as the law clerk for Judge Fahy on the United States Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.
He was ordained on May 30th, 1959, in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Bob added to his J.D. Degree from Harvard another Doctorate (J.U.D.) in Canon and Civil Law from the Lateran University in Rome. Upon his return to New York, Father Bob served in three parishes, as well as Chaplain at The United States Military Academy at West Point, Assistant Chancellor of the Archdiocese and Professor at New York’s St. Joseph seminary.
He also served as a Consultor to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, a member of the Papal Commission for the Development of Administrative Law in the Church, and as the O’Brien-O’Connor Scholar in Canon Law at the Catholic University of America for over 30 years. He also held visiting professorships at Princeton University, Maryknoll School of Theology and New York University of Law. After his retirement from Catholic University, Bob served as Chaplain at the College of Notre Dame in Maryland from 2007 to 2013.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated in the Catholic Community of St. Francis Xavier in Hunt Valley, Maryland, on April 8. Internment will be on April 12 in Newton, Massachusetts.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be directed in Rev. Kennedy’s memory to the College of the Holy Cross, 1 College St., Worcester, MA 01610, and/or Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD 21297-0303.
