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Assignment Record– Rev. Keith G. Fennessy
Summary of Case: Keith G. Fennessy was ordained for the Archdiocese of New York in 1984. He assisted at parishes in the Bronx and Peekskill/Cortlandt Manor, then served as chaplain for Mount Sinai Medical Center and the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Center. There appear to be gaps in his assignment history 1987-1988 and 1997-1998. Fennessy went on to lead parishes in Manhattan and Staten Island. He was absent on sick leave 2002-2004 and, again, there is an assignment gap 2010-2011.
In June 2015 Fennessy was placed on leave of absence by the archdiocese due to the discovery of child pornography on his computer. It is unclear as to when the discovery was made. The archdiocesan review board investigated and recommended Fennessy's removal. Law enforcement also investigated and the case was handed over the the District Attorney's offices. Per the archdiocese in April 2016, Fennessy was living in a supervised setting. The archdiocese was at that point undecided as to whether they would appeal to the Vatican for Fennessy's laicization.
Ordained: 1984
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Start |
Stop |
Assignments |
Town/Accusations |
State |
Position |
Notes |
1984
Archdiocese of New York
Archbishop was John Joseph O'Connor (1984-2000). |
1987 |
St. Gabriel's |
New York (Bronx) |
NY |
3/4, 3/3 |
St. Gabriel's had a school with 251-261 students. |
1987 |
1988 |
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Fennessy is not indexed in the 1988 Directory, nor is he listed in the New York pages as at his previous or next assignments. |
1988 |
1992 |
St. Columbanus |
Peekskill/Cortlandt Manor |
NY |
2/2 |
St. Columbanus had a school with 202-218 students. |
1992 |
1993 |
Mount Sinai Medical Center |
New York (Manhattan) |
NY |
chaplain |
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1993 |
1997 |
Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center |
New York |
NY |
director of mission development and pastoral services |
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1997 |
1998 |
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Fennessy is not indexed in th e 1998 Directory, nor is he listed in the New York pages as at his previous or next assignments. |
1998
O'Connor was succeeded by Edward Michael Egan (2000-2009). |
2002 |
St. Patrick's Old Cathedral |
New York |
NY |
1/4 |
St. Patrick's had a school with 581 students.
Fennessy is indexed and listed in the New York pages of the 1999-2001 Directories as "Keith G. Fenness." |
2001 |
2002 |
Most Holy Crucifix |
New York |
NY |
1/1 |
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2002 |
2004 |
Absent on Sick Leave |
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2004 |
2005 |
St. Peter's |
New York (Staten Island) |
NY |
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2/3 St. Peter's had an elementary school with 310 students, a boys high school with 781 students, and a girls high school with 234 students. It also had a CCD program with 42 students.
The 2003-2005 Directories spell Fennessy's surname "Fennessey." |
2005 |
2006 |
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel-St. Benedicta |
New York (Staten Island) |
NY |
1/1 Administrator |
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel-St. Benedicta had a CCd program with 92 students. |
2006
Timothy Michael Dolan followed Egan as New York archbishop (2009-). |
2010 |
St. Margaret Mary's |
New York (Staten Island) |
NY |
1/1 |
St. Margaret Mary's had a school with 160-135 students and a CCD program with 141-124 students. |
2010 |
2011 |
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Fennessy is not indexed in the 2011 Directory, nor is he listed in the New York pages as at his previous or next assignments. |
2011 |
2015 |
St. Columba |
New York (Manhattan)
• In June 2015 Fennessy was placed on leave due to the discovery of child pornography on his computer. It is not clear when the discovery was made. The archdiocesan review board and law enforcement investigated and the case was given to the Manhattan and Staten Island District Attorney’s offices. |
NY |
1/2, 1/3, 1/5 |
St. Columba had a CCD program with 15-7 students. |
2015 |
2016 |
Leave of Absence |
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Per the archdiocese in April 2016, Fennessy was living in a supervised setting and they had not yet decided whether to ask the Vatican to defrock him. |
Priests in a Parish: We use the following
convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means
that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually
the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand
3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample
page from the Directory.
Sources: Official Catholic Directory (Kenedy & Sons, 1985-2016).
• Father Fennessy Barred From Priestly Ministry, Catholic New York, March 30, 2016
• Archdiocese: Ex-pastor found with porn hasn't been defrocked, By Maura Grunlund, Staten Island Advance, April 5, 2016
• Cardinal Dolan slammed for 'secrecy' in priest porn case, By Maura Grunlund, Staten Island Advance, April 5, 2016
Note: The
Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic
priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication
year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory
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 Directory 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 email
us with new information and corrections.
This assignment record collates Fennessy's career history as it is represented
in the Official Catholic Directory 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 posting
policy.
This assignment record was last updated on March 16, 2017. |
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