FOR six decades Father Bernard Kenny has serviced the Catholic Church as a priest, answering what he described as a call from God.
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“I became a priest because I thought God was calling me. That was the main reason,” he said.
A dedicated Catholic man who use to build altars while his brother played football, Father Kenny has not been without his health problems.
Unfortunately, due to those issues, he is unable to remember a great deal, but does harbour many fond memories.
“I’d have a bundle of good ones if I could remember them all,” he said.
“I remember my ordination in Port Macquarie. I remember lots of wonderful, good Catholic people. That was my life.”
Father Kenny, who was born in Kempsey, was ordained at the St Agnes Parish in Port Macquarie on July 22, 1956.
“I do remember how happy so many people were on that day,” he said.
“My father was a great Labor man, and a lot of Catholics joined the Labor Party. John Joseph Cahill was the premier at the time and he attended my ordination.”
Due to his father’s strong standing with the Labor Party, it came as no surprise to see more politicians attending Father Kenny’s ordination than priests.
“They all wanted to come because my father was such a genuine Labor man,” he said.
“I was ordained on a Sunday and many priests couldn’t come because they had their own parishes to look after.
“The bishop was very generous. He actually came to Port Macquarie to do it, which made it easier for a lot of people to attend.”
He has been back in Port Macquarie since he retired, but spent a lot of his time as a priest in Smithtown, with various other locations along the way.
One of those was Wauchope, where he was a figurehead in the establishment of the new church.
“I decided that I didn’t want to be running around all the parishes, so I asked about the alternative,” he said.
“They said I was to become parish priest in Wauchope. I arranged for the new church to be built there and I was there for six or seven years.”
Having met literally thousands of people on his journey with God, Father Kenny said every person held value to him.
“To me, everyone I met was very important. I didn’t like to knock around with the tops,” he said.
“I liked to help everyone and to me everyone was important as the next person, because they are all important to God.”