Ethne Kennedy (November 13, 1921 – March 13, 2005) was an American religious worker and activist. Kennedy was the daughter of parents who had emigrated to the United States from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

early in the twentieth century; among her siblings was the literary scholar Sighle Kennedy. A member of the Society of Helpers, she was the founding president of the

National Assembly of Religious Women The National Assembly of Religious Women was a Roman Catholic organization in the United States dedicated to the promotion of social justice. Founded in 1970 as the National Assembly of Women Religious, it changed its name in 1982 to denote the full ...

, and after the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

worked to ensure that women could participate fully in the workings of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. She also was editor of ''Probe'', the newsletter put out by the organization of sisters' councils in the United States. As part of her role with the National Assembly of Religious Women, she ensured that sisters had the ability to cooperate with the church in its decision making and process implementation at the national, regional, and local levels, and assisted them in integrating these decisions into society. The organization also promoted a new identity for Catholic religious sisters. Later in life Kennedy worked among

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

patients in New York City; at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, she participated in demonstrations and protests against war. She was also among the founders of AIDS Ministries/AIDS Assist. During her career she wrote on the subject of women's role in ministry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Ethne 1921 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns American people of Irish descent American feminists 21st-century American Roman Catholic nuns