Eugene Kennedy

Eugene Cullen Kennedy (August 28, 1928 – June 3, 2015) was a psychologist, award-winning writer, public intellectual, syndicated columnist, and professor emeritus of Loyola University Chicago. A laicized Catholic priest and a long-time observer of the Catholic Church, the work of Eugene Cullen Kennedy spans many genres. He has published over 50 books that include 2 biographies, 3 novels, a play, as well as books on psychology, on the Roman Catholic Church and the relationship between psychology and religion. In the early 1970s, inspired by Vatican II, he emerged as a powerful voice for reform and modernization of the Roman Catholic Church. 2Early Life and Education Eugene Cullen Kennedy was born in Syracuse, New York, on August 28, 1928, to second generation Irish parents, James Donald Kennedy and Gertrude Veronica Cullen. His father was an executive with the King Kullen Grocery Company, the family-owned supermarket chain founded by Kennedy’s uncle, Michael J. Cullen, and his mother was a homemaker. During the 1980’s, Kennedy became a consultant to King Kullen and a member of the Board of Directors, positions he held until his death. Raised in Long Island, Kennedy graduated from Chaminade High School in Mineola, NY in 1946 after which he entered the Maryknoll Seminary in Maryknoll, NY. From that institution, Kennedy received a B.A. (1950), S.T.B (1953) and M.R.E. (1954). Following his ordination to the priesthood on June 11, 1955, he was instructor in psychology at the Maryknoll Seminary in Clarks Summit, PA before beginning graduate studies in psychology at The Catholic University of America where he obtained an MA (1958) and PhD (1962). 2Career Kennedy was a licensed psychologist in Illinois and professor of psychology and counselor at Maryknoll College, Glen Ellyn, Illinois from 1960 until 197