Name Bernard Kelly | Died December 5, 2006 | |
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Bernard Matthew Kelly (May 7, 1918 - December 5, 2006) served as a Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop.
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Background
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Kelly attended Providence College and the Theological College of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was ordained priest in 1944. After ordination, Kelly served as assistant pastor and as an instructor at La Salle Academy in Providence. He also served as chaplain of Mother of Hope Novitiate in Warwick, Rhode Island and as spiritual director of Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Warwick Neck.
Ordination & resignation
Kelly was ordained titular bishop of Tegea and auxiliary bishop of Providence in 1963. At the forefront of the ecumenical movement, Kelly spoke in front of an evangelical Protestant congregation in 1965. In 1971, he drew controversy when, in a sermon, he called it "scandalous that churchmen are so concerned about abortion and yet have nothing to say about destruction of human life in Laos." Disappointed with the church's position on the Vietnam War, he resigned from the priesthood that June. He later married and worked as an attorney in Rhode Island and West Virginia, where he died in 2006.