Bernard M. Kelly, of 1340 Ludwick Street, Keyser, West Virginia, who resigned as a bishop and priest in 1971, over what he saw as the U.S. Catholic hierarchy's failure to adapt to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and to speak out strongly against the Vietnam War, died on Tuesday, December 5, at Potomac Valley Hospital, in Keyser, West Virginia, at the age of 88.
Franciscan Fr. Ivan M. Lebar celebrated a funeral Mass for Kelly on December 9, at the church of the Assumption in Keyser. He was cremated and inurned at St. Thomas Columbarium in Keyser.
Kelly was survived by his wife, the former Anna Beier; a stepson and stepdaughter and their spouses; and numerous relatives in Rhode Island.
At the time of his resignation on June 14, 1971, Kelly had been an Auxiliary Bishop in Providence, Rhode Island, for seven years. He later married and worked as an attorney in Rhode Island and West Virginia.
Ellen M. O'Hara, chancellor of the Wheeling-Charleston diocese, said December 12, that Kelly was reconciled with the Catholic church "10 to 12 years ago" and "died a faithful member" of the church of the Assumption.
As a Bishop, Kelly was active in the fledgling ecumenical movement, and was one of the first Catholic bishops to speak before a Protestant congregation when he preached at the Beneficent Congregational Church in Providence in 1965.
In February 1971, at the height of a U.S. air and artillery campaign in Laos to support a South Vietnamese ground offensive, then-Bishop Kelly called it "scandalous that churchmen are so concerned about abortion and yet have nothing to say about destruction of human life in Laos." He was commenting after a guest sermon by Fr. Raymond L. Tetreault at Our Lady of Mercy church in Providence triggered a walkout by about 65 parishioners.
The priest had said members of the congregation who believed the Vietnam War was unjust should tell their sons not to cooperate with the military draft. Some parishioners reportedly later called the media to accuse the priest of being a communist.
The next month Kelly and then Auxiliary Bishop, Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit joined an interreligious campaign called "Set the Date Now," which urged Congress and President Richard M. Nixon to end all direct and indirect U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia by Dec. 31, 1971.
Announcing his resignation that June, Kelly said his fellow bishops were "determined to preserve as far as possible the structures and forms of the Council of Trent" and "more concerned about Communion in the hand than they are about the war in Vietnam.
"I see no hope for any future change in their attitude," he said in a letter to priests of the Providence Diocese. "Since discussion is impossible, I feel obligated in conscience to protest in the only way possible, by my resignation."
Just five months later, however, the U.S. bishops at their fall general meeting approved a resolution calling a speedy end to the Vietnam War "a moral imperative of the highest priority."
"Whatever good we hope to achieve through continued involvement in this war is now outweighed by the destruction of human life and of moral values, which it inflicts," they added. "Hence we feel a moral obligation to appeal urgently to our nation's leaders and indeed to the leaders of all the nations involved in this tragic conflict to bring the war to an end with no further delay."
Born on May 7, 1918, in Providence, Bernard Matthew Kelly was educated at Providence Catholic elementary and high schools, Providence College, the Pontifical Major Roman Seminary in Rome and Theological College of the Catholic University of America in Washington.
Ordained to the priesthood on June 3, 1944, he earned a doctorate in canon law at Catholic University following ordination.
Before his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Providence in late 1963, then Fr. Kelly had served as an assistant pastor; as an instructor at LaSalle Academy in Providence; as chaplain of Mother of Hope novitiate in Warwick; and as spiritual director of Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Warwick Neck. He also had been defender of the matrimonial bond on the diocesan tribunal since 1947.
After leaving the Priesthood in 1971, he served as a director of hospital administration in Florida and then opened his own law practice in Rhode Island. In the early 1990's, he retired and moved to West Virginia where he lived until his death.
Kelly was an avid gardener and loved to read and learn. He excelled in track at La Salle Academy, and was also proficient in swimming. One of his passions was swimming in the oceans off the coast of Rhode Island.
Franciscan Fr. Ivan M. Lebar celebrated a funeral Mass for Kelly on December 9, at the church of the Assumption in Keyser. He was cremated and inurned at St. Thomas Columbarium in Keyser.
Kelly was survived by his wife, the former Anna Beier; a stepson and stepdaughter and their spouses; and numerous relatives in Rhode Island.
At the time of his resignation on June 14, 1971, Kelly had been an Auxiliary Bishop in Providence, Rhode Island, for seven years. He later married and worked as an attorney in Rhode Island and West Virginia.
Ellen M. O'Hara, chancellor of the Wheeling-Charleston diocese, said December 12, that Kelly was reconciled with the Catholic church "10 to 12 years ago" and "died a faithful member" of the church of the Assumption.
As a Bishop, Kelly was active in the fledgling ecumenical movement, and was one of the first Catholic bishops to speak before a Protestant congregation when he preached at the Beneficent Congregational Church in Providence in 1965.
In February 1971, at the height of a U.S. air and artillery campaign in Laos to support a South Vietnamese ground offensive, then-Bishop Kelly called it "scandalous that churchmen are so concerned about abortion and yet have nothing to say about destruction of human life in Laos." He was commenting after a guest sermon by Fr. Raymond L. Tetreault at Our Lady of Mercy church in Providence triggered a walkout by about 65 parishioners.
The priest had said members of the congregation who believed the Vietnam War was unjust should tell their sons not to cooperate with the military draft. Some parishioners reportedly later called the media to accuse the priest of being a communist.
The next month Kelly and then Auxiliary Bishop, Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit joined an interreligious campaign called "Set the Date Now," which urged Congress and President Richard M. Nixon to end all direct and indirect U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia by Dec. 31, 1971.
Announcing his resignation that June, Kelly said his fellow bishops were "determined to preserve as far as possible the structures and forms of the Council of Trent" and "more concerned about Communion in the hand than they are about the war in Vietnam.
"I see no hope for any future change in their attitude," he said in a letter to priests of the Providence Diocese. "Since discussion is impossible, I feel obligated in conscience to protest in the only way possible, by my resignation."
Just five months later, however, the U.S. bishops at their fall general meeting approved a resolution calling a speedy end to the Vietnam War "a moral imperative of the highest priority."
"Whatever good we hope to achieve through continued involvement in this war is now outweighed by the destruction of human life and of moral values, which it inflicts," they added. "Hence we feel a moral obligation to appeal urgently to our nation's leaders and indeed to the leaders of all the nations involved in this tragic conflict to bring the war to an end with no further delay."
Born on May 7, 1918, in Providence, Bernard Matthew Kelly was educated at Providence Catholic elementary and high schools, Providence College, the Pontifical Major Roman Seminary in Rome and Theological College of the Catholic University of America in Washington.
Ordained to the priesthood on June 3, 1944, he earned a doctorate in canon law at Catholic University following ordination.
Before his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Providence in late 1963, then Fr. Kelly had served as an assistant pastor; as an instructor at LaSalle Academy in Providence; as chaplain of Mother of Hope novitiate in Warwick; and as spiritual director of Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Warwick Neck. He also had been defender of the matrimonial bond on the diocesan tribunal since 1947.
After leaving the Priesthood in 1971, he served as a director of hospital administration in Florida and then opened his own law practice in Rhode Island. In the early 1990's, he retired and moved to West Virginia where he lived until his death.
Kelly was an avid gardener and loved to read and learn. He excelled in track at La Salle Academy, and was also proficient in swimming. One of his passions was swimming in the oceans off the coast of Rhode Island.
Bernard M. Kelly, of 1340 Ludwick Street, Keyser, West Virginia, who resigned as a bishop and priest in 1971, over what he saw as the U.S. Catholic hierarchy's failure to adapt to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and to speak out strongly against the Vietnam War, died on Tuesday, December 5, at Potomac Valley Hospital, in Keyser, West Virginia, at the age of 88.
Franciscan Fr. Ivan M. Lebar celebrated a funeral Mass for Kelly on December 9, at the church of the Assumption in Keyser. He was cremated and inurned at St. Thomas Columbarium in Keyser.
Kelly was survived by his wife, the former Anna Beier; a stepson and stepdaughter and their spouses; and numerous relatives in Rhode Island.
At the time of his resignation on June 14, 1971, Kelly had been an Auxiliary Bishop in Providence, Rhode Island, for seven years. He later married and worked as an attorney in Rhode Island and West Virginia.
Ellen M. O'Hara, chancellor of the Wheeling-Charleston diocese, said December 12, that Kelly was reconciled with the Catholic church "10 to 12 years ago" and "died a faithful member" of the church of the Assumption.
As a Bishop, Kelly was active in the fledgling ecumenical movement, and was one of the first Catholic bishops to speak before a Protestant congregation when he preached at the Beneficent Congregational Church in Providence in 1965.
In February 1971, at the height of a U.S. air and artillery campaign in Laos to support a South Vietnamese ground offensive, then-Bishop Kelly called it "scandalous that churchmen are so concerned about abortion and yet have nothing to say about destruction of human life in Laos." He was commenting after a guest sermon by Fr. Raymond L. Tetreault at Our Lady of Mercy church in Providence triggered a walkout by about 65 parishioners.
The priest had said members of the congregation who believed the Vietnam War was unjust should tell their sons not to cooperate with the military draft. Some parishioners reportedly later called the media to accuse the priest of being a communist.
The next month Kelly and then Auxiliary Bishop, Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit joined an interreligious campaign called "Set the Date Now," which urged Congress and President Richard M. Nixon to end all direct and indirect U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia by Dec. 31, 1971.
Announcing his resignation that June, Kelly said his fellow bishops were "determined to preserve as far as possible the structures and forms of the Council of Trent" and "more concerned about Communion in the hand than they are about the war in Vietnam.
"I see no hope for any future change in their attitude," he said in a letter to priests of the Providence Diocese. "Since discussion is impossible, I feel obligated in conscience to protest in the only way possible, by my resignation."
Just five months later, however, the U.S. bishops at their fall general meeting approved a resolution calling a speedy end to the Vietnam War "a moral imperative of the highest priority."
"Whatever good we hope to achieve through continued involvement in this war is now outweighed by the destruction of human life and of moral values, which it inflicts," they added. "Hence we feel a moral obligation to appeal urgently to our nation's leaders and indeed to the leaders of all the nations involved in this tragic conflict to bring the war to an end with no further delay."
Born on May 7, 1918, in Providence, Bernard Matthew Kelly was educated at Providence Catholic elementary and high schools, Providence College, the Pontifical Major Roman Seminary in Rome and Theological College of the Catholic University of America in Washington.
Ordained to the priesthood on June 3, 1944, he earned a doctorate in canon law at Catholic University following ordination.
Before his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Providence in late 1963, then Fr. Kelly had served as an assistant pastor; as an instructor at LaSalle Academy in Providence; as chaplain of Mother of Hope novitiate in Warwick; and as spiritual director of Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Warwick Neck. He also had been defender of the matrimonial bond on the diocesan tribunal since 1947.
After leaving the Priesthood in 1971, he served as a director of hospital administration in Florida and then opened his own law practice in Rhode Island. In the early 1990's, he retired and moved to West Virginia where he lived until his death.
Kelly was an avid gardener and loved to read and learn. He excelled in track at La Salle Academy, and was also proficient in swimming. One of his passions was swimming in the oceans off the coast of Rhode Island.
Franciscan Fr. Ivan M. Lebar celebrated a funeral Mass for Kelly on December 9, at the church of the Assumption in Keyser. He was cremated and inurned at St. Thomas Columbarium in Keyser.
Kelly was survived by his wife, the former Anna Beier; a stepson and stepdaughter and their spouses; and numerous relatives in Rhode Island.
At the time of his resignation on June 14, 1971, Kelly had been an Auxiliary Bishop in Providence, Rhode Island, for seven years. He later married and worked as an attorney in Rhode Island and West Virginia.
Ellen M. O'Hara, chancellor of the Wheeling-Charleston diocese, said December 12, that Kelly was reconciled with the Catholic church "10 to 12 years ago" and "died a faithful member" of the church of the Assumption.
As a Bishop, Kelly was active in the fledgling ecumenical movement, and was one of the first Catholic bishops to speak before a Protestant congregation when he preached at the Beneficent Congregational Church in Providence in 1965.
In February 1971, at the height of a U.S. air and artillery campaign in Laos to support a South Vietnamese ground offensive, then-Bishop Kelly called it "scandalous that churchmen are so concerned about abortion and yet have nothing to say about destruction of human life in Laos." He was commenting after a guest sermon by Fr. Raymond L. Tetreault at Our Lady of Mercy church in Providence triggered a walkout by about 65 parishioners.
The priest had said members of the congregation who believed the Vietnam War was unjust should tell their sons not to cooperate with the military draft. Some parishioners reportedly later called the media to accuse the priest of being a communist.
The next month Kelly and then Auxiliary Bishop, Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit joined an interreligious campaign called "Set the Date Now," which urged Congress and President Richard M. Nixon to end all direct and indirect U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia by Dec. 31, 1971.
Announcing his resignation that June, Kelly said his fellow bishops were "determined to preserve as far as possible the structures and forms of the Council of Trent" and "more concerned about Communion in the hand than they are about the war in Vietnam.
"I see no hope for any future change in their attitude," he said in a letter to priests of the Providence Diocese. "Since discussion is impossible, I feel obligated in conscience to protest in the only way possible, by my resignation."
Just five months later, however, the U.S. bishops at their fall general meeting approved a resolution calling a speedy end to the Vietnam War "a moral imperative of the highest priority."
"Whatever good we hope to achieve through continued involvement in this war is now outweighed by the destruction of human life and of moral values, which it inflicts," they added. "Hence we feel a moral obligation to appeal urgently to our nation's leaders and indeed to the leaders of all the nations involved in this tragic conflict to bring the war to an end with no further delay."
Born on May 7, 1918, in Providence, Bernard Matthew Kelly was educated at Providence Catholic elementary and high schools, Providence College, the Pontifical Major Roman Seminary in Rome and Theological College of the Catholic University of America in Washington.
Ordained to the priesthood on June 3, 1944, he earned a doctorate in canon law at Catholic University following ordination.
Before his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Providence in late 1963, then Fr. Kelly had served as an assistant pastor; as an instructor at LaSalle Academy in Providence; as chaplain of Mother of Hope novitiate in Warwick; and as spiritual director of Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Warwick Neck. He also had been defender of the matrimonial bond on the diocesan tribunal since 1947.
After leaving the Priesthood in 1971, he served as a director of hospital administration in Florida and then opened his own law practice in Rhode Island. In the early 1990's, he retired and moved to West Virginia where he lived until his death.
Kelly was an avid gardener and loved to read and learn. He excelled in track at La Salle Academy, and was also proficient in swimming. One of his passions was swimming in the oceans off the coast of Rhode Island.
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