A BLACKBURN priest will tomorrow become the first Englishman appointed to a particular top post in the Roman Catholic Church.
The Very Rev Kevin Kenny, of Pleasington Priory, will be invested as honorary canon of the Cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
He will act as advisor on international issues to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Monsignor Michel Sabbah.
The other honorary canons include two Americans, a Frenchman and two Italians.
Fr Kenny was invited to take the post on the recommendation of the Bishop of Salford. The honour is in recognition of his work within the Holy Land over the past 25 years. Fr Kenny is involved with the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a papal order which helps maintain the Christian presence in the Holy Land through supporting hospitals and schools.
And in recent years he has welcomed to Lancashire a number of Palestinian and Jordanian students training for the priesthood.
His investiture will take place during the ordination to the priesthood of two students, Adnan Bader and Bassam al-Deir, who spent six weeks in Lancashire in 1996.
The ceremony will be held at the church of St John Baptist de la Salle in Amman, Jordan.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article