Diocese: Archdiocese of New York
Religious Order: Redemptorist Order
Summary of Assignments:
- 1959: Ordained
- 1959-1961: Student Priest at Mount St. Alphonsus; Esopus, NY
- 1961-1970: Aquidauana; Mato Grosso, Brazil
- 1970-1973: Antonina; Paraná, Brazil
- 1973-1974: Paraná, Brazil
- 1974-1979: Paraná, Brazil
- 1979-1981: Sacred Heart of Jesus; Baltimore, MD
- 1979-1981: Holy Redeemer Chapel/St. Gerard’s Chapel; Baltimore, MD
- These were missions of Sacred Heart of Jesus
- 1981-1983: Catholic Information Center at Woodstock Theological Center – Georgetown University; Washington, D.C.
- In residence at Holy Redeemer College
- 1983-1990: Most Holy Redeemer; New York City, NY
- During this time, also the Director at Archdiocesan Drug and Alcohol, Rehabilitate and Education (DARE) Program; Manhattan, NY
- 1991-1993: Not listed in the 1991-1993 Official Directories
- 1993-1994: Our Lady of Perpetual Help; Opa Locka, FL
- May have been at an Opa Locka, FL parish from 1993-1994 as Fr. John ‘Kenning’, C.Ss.R.
- 1994: Not listed in the 1994 Official Directory
- 1995-2003: Mount St. Alphonsus; Esopus, NY
- Assigned to archiving Shroud of Turin research
Notes:
In 1989, a teenage girl told her mother that Kennington had sexually abused her and her younger brother from 1984 to 1987, beginning when the girl was 11 and the boy was 8 years-old. Kennington admitted to playing strip poker with the children. Other allegations included sexual touching and masturbation in front of the children. Kennington was their parish priest and a close family friend for 15 years. He stepped in to help their mother after a divorce, including help with childcare. The brother filed suit in 1993 and settled in 2001. The sister could not sue, due to the New York statute of limitations.
In 2009, the Redemptorists honored Kennington for the 50th anniversary of his ordination. He was living in Brooklyn by 2010 and still an active priest in 2016.
Sources: Shroud website 11.07.98; New York Post via Freelibrary 11.30.01; New York Post 03.22.02; Newsday 03.23.02; Times Herald-Record 04.10.02; USA Today 11.11.02; BA.org Assignment Record
Note: Years listed indicate editions of the Official Catholic Directory. Because of the publication schedule of the Directory, a priest listed at a parish in a given year was also likely at that parish for part of the previous year.