Background
He was born on January 2, 1899 and died on May 11, 1982. One of 12 children, Horace was born in New York City, the son of Charles F. McKenna, a respected chemist, and Laura O"Neill McKenna.
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Horace McKenna
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There, he discovered the desperate needs of the poor and oppressed. He was ordained June 23, 1929 and assigned to pastor parishes in southern Maryland amidst poverty and segregation including Saint Peter Claver"s Church, Saint James" Church, Saint Ignatius" Church and Saint Inigoes". He was active in civil rights, Vietnam-era anti-war protests and the Poor People"s Campaign.
In 1964 he returned to Saint Aloysius and remained there for the rest of his life, living at Gonzaga College High School and serving the poor.
In his commitment to social justice in Washington, District of Columbia, French He was also one of the leaders in establishing the Sursum Corda Cooperative, a housing development for the poor.
Documentation of his life"s work is maintained in the Georgetown University Library Special Collections Division. French McKenna was named "Washingtonian of the Year" by Washingtonian Magazine in 1977.
He received an honorary degree from the University of Scranton in 1998.
The McKenna Center, a local shelter and soup kitchen for homeless men, located under the Great Church of Saint Aloysius, was named after him in 1982. McKenna Walk Northwest, a short street within Sursum Corda, is also named after him. The McKenna Center exists to meet the needs of the poor and homeless who reside in one of Washington’s poorest neighborhoods despite being in the shadow of the United States Capitol Building.
Each day, the McKenna Center fulfills the Gospel instruction to “feed the hungry, shelter the homeless and clothe the naked”.
