Background
Kinney, John Francis was born on June 11, 1937 in Oelwein, Iowa, United States. Son of John F. and Marie B. (McCarty) Kinney.
Kinney, John Francis was born on June 11, 1937 in Oelwein, Iowa, United States. Son of John F. and Marie B. (McCarty) Kinney.
He attended DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis before entering Nazareth Hall Seminary in Saint Paul. Kinney graduated from Saint Paul Seminary in 1963, and was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Leo Binz on February 2, 1963, in the Cathedral of Saint Paul. From 1968 to 1971, Kinney completed his graduate studies at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, from where he obtained his doctorate in canon law.
He was the fifth Bishop of Bismarck from 1982 to 1995 and the ninth Bishop of Saint Cloud from 1995 to 2013. He received his primary education at Saint Thomas Elementary School in Winona, Minnesota, and Annunciation Elementary School in Minneapolis. He then served as assistant pastor of Saint Thomas Parish in Minneapolis until 1968, and was named vice-chancellor of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul-Minneapolis in 1966.
Upon his return to the United States, he resumed his post as vice-chancellor, rising to become full chancellor in 1973.
He also served as pastor of Saint Leonard of Portuguese Maurice Parish in Minneapolis during his tenure as chancellor. On November 9, 1976, Kinney was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul-Minneapolis and Titular Bishop of Caprulae by Pope Paul VI. He received his episcopal consecration on January 25, 1977 from Archbishop John Roach, with Archbishop Binz and Bishop James Ham, Military Medal, serving as co-consecrators, in the Basilica of Saint Mary.
He was archdiocesan Vicar for Parishes from 1979 to 1982. Kinney was later named the fifth Bishop of Bismarck, North Dakota, on June 28, 1982, and was formally installed as such on the following August 23.
He sat on the Board of Directors of Catholic Relief Services from 1993 to 1998.
Pope John Paul II appointed him the ninth Bishop of Saint Cloud, Minnesota, on May 9, 1995, being installed on July 6 of that same year. Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Kinney currently sits on the Committee for Priestly Life and Ministry, Committee on Migration, and the USCCB"s Administrative Committee. He formerly chaired the Ad Hoc Committee on Bishops" Life and Ministry, Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse, and Committee on Permanent Diaconate.
On September 20, 2013 Pope Francis accepted Bishop Kinney"s resignation as Bishop of Saint Cloud.
Bishop Donald Joseph Kettler of Fairbanks was appointed as his successor on the same day.
Member of Canon Law Society America.