Rev. John "Jack" Kennington, C.Ss.R./images/title>  <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="te./images/html; charset=windows-1252">  </head> <body> <table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td colspan="3" class="header" height="50" valign="middle"><a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/" class="header">BishopAccountability.or./images/a> <hr color="#000000"./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr><td colspan="3"> ./images/td./images/tr> <tr> <td width="7%"> ./images/td> <td> <table valign="top" border="0" width="800"> <tbody><tr> <td><p><strong><font color="#CC0000" size="+2">Rev. John "Jack" Kennington, C.Ss.R. – Assignment Histor./images/font./images/strong><br> <br> <strong>Summary of Cas./images/strong>: Jack Kennington was ordained for the Baltimore Province of the Redemptorist Order in 1959. He spent his first nearly two decades of priesthood in Brazil, in the states of Mato Grosso and Paraná. In 1979 he returned to Baltimore, residing at Sacred Heart parish until 1981, when he moved to the Catholic Information Center at Woodstock Theological Center - Georgetown University in Washington DC. In 1983 Kennington was assigned to Most Holy Redeemer parish in New York City, where he assisted until 1990. During that time he was the archdiocesan DARE program director for the Lower East Side. The <em>Directorie./images/em> show a gap in his assignments 1990-1993. He appears to have been assigned during 1993-1994 to a parish in Opa Locka, Florida, under the name "John Kenning, C.S.s.R." He reappears as Kennington in 1995 at the Redemptorists' Mount Alphonsus Monastery and retreat center in Esopus, New York. There he was assigned the task of archiving a research collection regarding the Shroud of Turin./images/p> <p>In 1989 a woman was told by her teenage daughter that Kennington had sexually abused her and her younger brother from 1984 to 1987, beginning when the two were ages 8 and 11. Kennington, who was a close family friend, had stepped in to help the newly divorced mother, including with childcare. The family were Most Holy Redeemer parishioners. The abuse was said to have occurred in the family's apartment, on vacations in the Hamptons and during visits to the mother's parents home in Florida. Kennington allegedly would play strip poker to the point of nakedness with the children, would molest one child while having the other watch, and would masturbate in the children's presence while viewing pornography. Kennington admitted to playing strip poker with the children, but denied abusing them../images/p> <p>The brother filed suit in 1993 against the Redemptorists and the Archdiocese of New York. The suit was settled in 2001, after eight years, and included a confidentiality agreement. The sister was unable to sue due to New York's statute of limitations./images/p> <p>Kennington was honored in 2009 on the 50th anniversary of his ordination. By 2010 he was living in Brooklyn, near the Order's Basilica. In 2016 he remained an active Redemptorist./images/p> <p><strong><br> <br> Ordaine./images/strong>: 1959<br> ./images/p./images/td> ./images/tr> </tbody./images/table> <br><table border="0" width="800"> <tbody><tr> <td><img src="./images/imag./images/Kennington_Jack.jpg" width="100" height="136" alt=./images/><img src="./images/imag./images/Kennington_Jack_old.jpg" width="100" height="136" alt=./images/./images/td> <td> ./images/td> <td> ./images/td> ./images/tr> </tbody./images/table> <br> <table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellspacing="0" width="802"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="9%"><strong>Star./images/strong./images/td> <td valign="top" width="6%"><strong>Sto./images/strong./images/td> <td valign="top" width="29%"><strong> Assignment./images/strong./images/td> <td valign="top" width="17%"><strong>To./images/Accusation./images/strong./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top" width="5%"><strong>Sta./images/<br> Countr./images/strong./images/td> <td valign="top" width="7%"><strong>Position./images/strong./images/td> <td valign="top" width="27%"><strong>Note./images/strong./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td height="117" valign="top"><p>195./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Archdiocese of New Yor./images/font./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Archbishop was Francis Joseph Spellman (1939-1967)./images/font./images/p./images/td> <td valign="top">196./images/td> <td valign="top"><font color="#CC0000"><strong>Mount St. Alphonsu./images/strong./images/font./images/td> <td valign="top"><strong>Esopu./images/strong./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top">N./images/td> <td valign="top">student pries./images/td> <td valign="top"><p>This was a Redemptorist House of Studies. In the 1961 <em>Director./images/em> Kennington is indexed as at Mount St. Alphonsus, but he is not listed as there in the New York pages./images/p./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td valign="top"><p>196./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Diocese of Corumbá <br> <br> Bishop was Ladislau Paz, S.D.B. (1957-1978)./images/font./images/p./images/td> <td valign="top">197./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"><strong>Aquidauan./images/strong./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top">Mato Gros./images/ Brazi./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td valign="top"><p>197./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Diocese of Paranaguá./images/font./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Bishop wa Bernardo José Nolker, C.Ss.R. (1963-1989)./images/font./images/p./images/td> <td valign="top">197./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"><strong>Antonin./images/strong./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top">Paran&aacut./images/Brazil./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td valign="top"><p>197./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Archdiocese of Curitib./images/font./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Archbishop was Pedro Antônio Marchetti Fedalto (1970-2004)./images/font./images/p./images/td> <td valign="top">197./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top">Paran&aacut./images/Brazi./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top">Kennington is noted to be part of 'Curitiba III../images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td valign="top"><p>197./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Diocese of Ponta Gross./images/font./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Bishop was Geraldo Claudio Luiz Micheletto Pellanda, C.P. (1965-1991)./images/font./images/p./images/td> <td valign="top">197./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top">Paran&aacut./images/Brazi./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top">Kennington is noted to be part of 'Ponta Grossa I../images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td valign="top"><p>197./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Archdiocese of Baltimore<br> ./images/font./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Archbishop was William Donald Borders (1974-1989)./images/font./images/p./images/td> <td valign="top">198./images/td> <td valign="top"><font color="#CC0000"><strong>Sacred Heart of Jesu./images/strong./images/font./images/td> <td valign="top"><strong>Baltimor./images/strong./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top">M./images/td> <td valign="top"><a href="#shorthand" class="link">./images/1./images/a./images/td> <td valign="top">Sacred Heart had a school with 275-387 students./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td height="22" valign="top">197./images/td> <td valign="top">198./images/td> <td valign="top"><font color="#CC0000"><strong>Holy Redeemer Chapel; St. Gerard's Chape./images/strong./images/font./images/td> <td valign="top"><strong>Baltimor./images/strong./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top">M./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top">These were missions of Sacred Heart of Jesus./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td valign="top"><p>198./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Washington DC./images/font./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Archbishop was James Aloysius Hickey (1980-2000)./images/font./images/p./images/td> <td valign="top">198./images/td> <td valign="top"><font color="#CC0000"><strong>Catholic Information Center at Woodstock Theological Center - Georgetown Universit./images/strong./images/font./images/td> <td valign="top"><strong>Washingto./images/strong./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top">D./images/td> <td valign="top">in residence at Holy Redeemer Colleg./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td height="496" valign="top"><p>198./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Archdiocese of New Yor./images/font./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Archbishop was Terence James Cooke (1968-1983), followed by John Joseph O'Connor (1984-2000)./images/font./images/p./images/td> <td valign="top">199./images/td> <td valign="top"><font color="#CC0000"><strong>Most Holy Redeeme./images/strong./images/font./images/td> <td valign="top"><p><strong>New Yor./images/strong./images/p> <p><strong>&bull./images/strong> Kennington was accused of sexually abusing a brother and sister 1984-1987 beginning when the girl was age 13 and the boy was 8. "Fr. Jack" was a<a href="htt./images//www.bishopaccountability.o./images/news5./images/2002_New_York_Post_Kindly_family.htm" class="link"> close family frien./images/a>, who offered support to the children's divorced mother, including with childcare. The abuse allegedly included having one sibling watch while he abused the other, playing strip poker with them to the point of nakedness and masturbating in their presence while looking at porn. The incidents were said to have occurred in the family's Manhattan apartment, at summer rental homes in the Hamptons, and during visits to the mother's parents' home in Florida. He reportedly told the siblings that the behavior was "our secret." The boy later said that <a href="htt./images//www.bishopaccountability.o./images/news5./images/2002_03_23_Newsday_Court_Orders.htm" class="link">Kennington would hear his confessio./images/a>, and absolve him of the sin of their sexual contact./images/p./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top">N./images/td> <td valign="top"./images/5,./images/4,./images/./images/td> <td valign="top"><p> ./images/p> <p> ./images/p> <p>Kennington denied the abuse, but <a href="htt./images//www.bishopaccountability.o./images/news5./images/2002_03_22_Buffa_Mother_Demands.htm" class="link">admitted to playing strip poke./images/a> with the children./images/p> <p>The mother said she didn't learn of the abuse until 1989, when her <a href="htt./images//www.bishopaccountability.o./images/news5./images/2002_New_York_Post_Kindly_family.htm" class="link">daughter refused to allow "Uncle Jack" to attend her high school graduatio./images/a> party. The girl had been experiencing serious psychiatric difficulties, including a suicide attempt. Her brother struggled with migraines and depression./images/p./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"><font color="#CC0000"><strong>Archdiocesan Drug and Alcohol, Rehabilitate and Educate (DARE) Progra./images/strong./images/font./images/td> <td valign="top"><strong>New York (Manhattan./images/strong./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top">N./images/td> <td valign="top">Director, Lower East Sid./images/td> <td valign="top">This is <a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/new./images/1990_05_09_Kansas_Father_Jack.htm" class="link">pe./images/a> a new source in 1990./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td valign="top">199./images/td> <td valign="top">199./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"><p>Kennington is not indexed in the 1991-1993 <em>Directorie./images/em>, nor is he listed in the diocesan pages as at his previous or next assignments./images/p> <p>The brother and sister alleging abuse by Kennington <a href="htt./images//www.bishopaccountability.o./images/news5./images/2002_New_York_Post_Kindly_family.htm" class="link">contacted a lawyer in 199./images/a>. The statute of limitations had run out for the girl, but not for the boy./images/p./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td valign="top"><p>199./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Archdiocese of Miam./images/font./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Archbishop was Edward Anthony McCarthy (1977-1994)./images/font./images/p./images/td> <td valign="top">199./images/td> <td valign="top"><font color="#CC0000"><strong>Our Lady of Perpetual Hel./images/strong./images/font./images/td> <td valign="top"><strong>Opa Lock./images/strong./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top">F./images/td> <td valign="top"./images/./images/td> <td valign="top"><p>Our Lady of Perpetual Help had a school with 168 students./images/p> <p>Kennington is indexed and listed in the Miami pages in the 1994<em> Director./images/em> as "John Kenning, c.ss.r." "Kenning" is indexed with a 1959 ordination year./images/p./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td valign="top">199./images/td> <td valign="top">199./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top">The 1994 <em>Director./images/em> does not index either "Kenning" or Kennington, and it does not list either name at Kennington's previous or next assignments./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td valign="top"><p>199./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Archdiocese of New Yor./images/font./images/p> <p><font color="#FF00FF">Archbishop John Joseph O'Connor (1984-2000), was succeeded by Edward Michael Egan (2000-2009)./images/font./images/p./images/td> <td valign="top">200./images/td> <td valign="top"><font color="#CC0000"><strong> Mount St. Alphonsu./images/strong./images/font./images/td> <td valign="top"><strong>Esopu./images/strong./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top">N./images/td> <td valign="top"><p>in residenc./images/p> <p>The 1997-2004 <em>Directories./images/em>show Kennington to have been part of the <font color="#CC0000"><strong>Holy Shroud Guil./images/strong./images/font>. A 1998 Shroud conference program bio states that he was new to Shroud research and was <a href="htt./images//www.bishopaccountability.o./images/news5./images/1998_11_07_Shroud_Rev_Jack.htm" class="link">archivin./images/a> a massive collection at Esopus./images/p./images/td> <td valign="top"><p>Mount St. Alphonsus was a Redemptorist residence and <a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/news5./images/2012_11_30_Criterion_Online_Now_Closed.pdf" class="link">center for retreat./images/a>. Per the <em>Directorie./images/em>, youth retreats were included./images/p> <p> ./images/p> <p>The lawsuit filed by the male alleged victim of Kennington's against the archdiocese and the Redemptorists was <a href="htt./images//www.bishopaccountability.o./images/news5./images/2002_03_23_Newsday_Court_Orders.htm" class="link">settle./images/a> after eight years, in 2001. It included a gag order./images/p./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td height="109" valign="top">200./images/td> <td valign="top">200./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"><p>The 2004 <em>Director./images/em> indexes Kennington's name and as located within archdiocese of New York, but it does show his specific whereabouts or name an assignment. He is not listed as at his previous assignment./images/p> <p>Kennington is not indexed beyond the 2004 <em>Directory./images/em./images/p./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td height="22" valign="top">200./images/td> <td valign="top">201./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td align="center" valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top"> ./images/td> <td valign="top">Kennington <a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/news5./images/2009_Summer_Plentiful_Redemption_Celebrating_the.jpg" class="link">celebrate./images/a> the 50th anniversary of his ordination in 2009. By 2010 he was living in Brooklyn, near the Order's Basilica, and in 2016 he remained an <a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/news5./images/2016_Hayes_Redemptorists_of_the%20_Baltimore_Province_Kennington.jpg" class="link">active Redemptoris./images/a>./images/td> ./images/tr> ./images/tbody> </table> <table valign="top" border="0" width="800"> <tbody><tr> <td><p><strong><a name="shorthand"./images/a>Priests in a Paris./images/strong>: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish:./images/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the <em>Official Catholic Directory./images/em>(usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand ./images/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our <a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/ia-davenpo./images/hierarchy-ocd-sample.htm" class="link">sample page from the <em>Director./images/em./images/a>.<br><br> <strong>Source./images/strong>: <em>Official Catholic Director./images/em> (Kenedy & Sons, 1960-2004)./images/p> <p><strong>&bull./images/strong> <a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/new./images/1990_05_09_Kansas_Father_Jack.htm" class="link">Manhattan Profile, Father Jack Kenningto./images/a>, Compiled by David Kansas, Newsday, May 9, 1990<br> <strong>•./images/strong><a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/news5./images/1998_11_07_Shroud_Rev_Jack.htm" class="link">Rev. Jack Kennington, C.Ss.R. - Physical Archiving of the Otterbein Collection at Esopu./images/a>, Shroud.com, November 7, 1998<br> <strong>•./images/strong><a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/news5./images/2002_03_22_Buffa_Mother_Demands.htm" class="link">Mother Demands Church Boot 'Strip Poker' Past./images/a><a href="./images/www.bishop-accountability.o./images/news5./images/2002_03_22_Buffa_Mother_Demands.htm" class="link">./images/a>, By Denise Buffa, New York Post, March 22, 2002<strong><br> •./images/strong><a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/news5./images/2002_03_23_Newsday_Court_Orders.htm" class="link">Court Orders Keep Charge Quie./images/a><strong>,./images/strong>Newsday.com, reposted on google group site, March 23, 2002<strong><br> • ./images/strong><a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/news./images/2002_04_10_OConnor_ExLocal_Francis_Stinner_1.htm" class="link">Ex-Local Priest on Abuse Lis./images/a>, By Timothy O'Connor, Times Herald-Record, April 10, 2002 <br> <strong>•./images/strong><a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/ne./images/2002_11_11_USAToday_TheAccused.htm#newyork">The Accuse./images/a>, USA Today, November 11, 2002<br> <strong>•./images/strong><a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/news5./images/2002_New_York_Post_Kindly_family.htm" class="link">Kindly family priest who fooled a mother and then cunningly abused her kids; Shocking Story of Betrayal by a Trusted Churchma./images/a>, New York Post, via Freelibrary.com, 2002 <br> <strong>•./images/strong><a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/news5./images/2009_Summer_Plentiful_Redemption_Celebrating_the.jpg" class="link">Celebrating the Anniversary of their ordinatio./images/a>, Plentiful Redemption, Volume I, Number 2, Redemptorist Office for Mission Advancement, redemptorists.net, Summer 2009<br> <strong>&bull./images/strong> <a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/news5./images/2012_11_30_Criterion_Online_Now_Closed.pdf" class="link">Now-closed Mount St. Alphonsus has a storied histor./images/a>, By Mary Ann Garber, The Criterion Online Edition, November 30, 2012 <br> <strong>&bull./images/strong> <a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/news5./images/2016_Hayes_Redemptorists_of_the%20_Baltimore_Province_Kennington.jpg" class="link">The Civil War journal of Father James Sheeran: Confederate chaplain and Redemptoris./images/a>, Patrick J. Hayes, editor, The Catholic University of America Press, 2017, p. 7<br> <br> ./images/p> <p><strong>Not./images/strong>: The <em>Official Catholic Director./images/em> aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the <em>Director./images/em>'s publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the <em>Director./images/em> 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 <em>Director./images/em> 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 <a href="mailto:staff@bishop-accountability.org" class="link">email u./images/a> with new information and corrections.<br> <br> This assignment record collates Kennington's career history as it is represented in the <em>Official Catholic Director./images/em> with the allegations against him, as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegations 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 <a href="htt./images//www.bishop-accountability.o./images/db_overview.htm#posting" class="link">posting polic./images/a>.<br> <br> This assignment record was last updated on April 6, 2017./images/p./images/td> ./images/tr> </tbody./images/table> <p><strong><br> ./images/strong./images/p> ./images/td> <td width="7%"> ./images/td> ./images/tr> <tr><td colspan="3"> ./images/td./images/tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" class="sm"><hr color="#000000"> Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution../images/td> ./images/tr> <tr> <td> ./images/td> <td> ./images/td> <td> ./images/td> ./images/tr> </tbody./images/table> </body>