| Eugene Kennedy | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 18, 1928 Syracuse, New York |
| Occupation | psychologist of religion, columnist |
Eugene Cullen Kennedy (born August 18, 1928) is an American psychologist, syndicated columnist, and a professor emeritus of Loyola University Chicago. He remained a professor of psychology at the university for several years. A laicized Catholic priest and a long-time observer of the Roman Catholic Church[1] he has written over fifty books on psychology, religion, Catholic church, and psychology of religion,[2] and also published three novels, Father's Day (1981), Queen Bee (1982), and Fixes (1989). He wrote a column for the Religious News Service, distributed by the New York Times syndicate.[3]
Kennedy is a noted dissident in the Catholic Church and has argued for a "post-clerical, de-centered priesthood, in which the adjustments to celibacy are varied." For Kennedy, the priesthood must be changed to include "the love and understanding of a specific woman, or, in some cases, a certain man."[4]
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Eugene Cullen Kennedy was born in Syracuse, New York, on August 18, 1928, to second generation Irish parents, James Donald Kennedy and Gertrude Veronica Cullen.
Kennedy received a bachelor of arts degree from Maryknoll College in 1950, followed by a bachelor's degree in sacred theology from Maryknoll Seminary in New York City in 1953, a master's in religious education in 1954, and both an MA (1958) and PhD (1962) from Catholic University.
Kennedy joined the order of Maryknoll missionaries and was ordained Roman Catholic priest in 1955. He began his teaching career at Maryknoll College as instructor that same year. He joined in the Clinical Psychology department at Chicago's Loyola University in 1969, and eventually became professor and chairman of the department, retiring as professor emeritus.
He first met Sara C. Charles, a Maryknoll nun and psychiatrist, in mid 1960s, while he was hospitalized in New York owing to a pericardial infection, after over a decade of friendship they married in September 1977 and authored several books together. The couple now live in Chicago.[2][5]
0824519132.