Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy works at the Vatican as Secretary of the Disciplinary Section at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. His office is not unlike the Supreme Court for the entire Catholic Church.

He was recently in New York City, where we took the opportunity to speak with him about the tasks entrusted to him by Pope Francis and his special tie to the Church of St. Bartholomew in Yonkers.

Your Excellency, what can you tell us about your work at the Vatican in responding to cases that come to your office?

I’ve been working at the Vatican for the last 21 years, nearly 22 at this stage, and currently, my responsibility is Secretary of the Discipline Section at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Our office has been given two main challenges by Pope Francis.

One regards the teaching of the of the faith, the doctrinal section, and the other is the work that I do specifically, which is in the discipline section, which looks after, in many ways just responding with the requirement of justice to cases which come under our competence. We have responsibility, for example, for crimes against the faith, heresies, schism, and apostasy.

And then we have other reserved delicts, crimes that are incredibly serious effectively against the Eucharist, against Penance, against the religious, the Holy Orders, priesthood, diaconate, bishop, and then the more headline-grabbing one, of course, is crimes against minors. So, children under the age of 18 who are sexually abused by clerics (these cases) come to our office from every country in the world. We’re effectively the supreme tribunal for the whole Catholic world.

You lead a staff of 16 full-time officials handling cases in the disciplinary section. Does this show how seriously Pope Francis takes these offenses?

Pope Francis [and others] have made this a priority for their ministry. Pope John Paul II said that there was no room in the Catholic Church for a priest, a cleric who would abuse a child. Pope Benedict, then, when he took over, strengthened the rules and the norms and gave us extra powers and authorities. And Pope Francis has again increased with a change of the law in book six of the Code of Canon Law, and in the responsibilities that we have been given as well.

And I’m playing my part with my team of 16 people to work every day to literally hand justice to people who have been abused by clerics and to change the culture for the Church to make it a credible place where we take these cases very seriously. We’re trying to make the Church a better place for young people.

How does your office work with the Pontifical Council for the Protection of Minors?

We’re working very closely with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which itself was instituted by Pope Francis. We had, many years ago in 2010, dipped our feet into the world of prevention. But being a tribunal, we found that our resources needed to be, I suppose, squared 100% on judging cases. So, Pope Francis has discovered that a really important aspect of this work is to prevent and to educate and to safeguard children and vulnerable adults at every level.

So, we’re literally two sides of the coin. They do the preventing, and when the preventing fails, we take over to judge the cases. But literally, we’re on the same page. We have the same mission.

You were consecrated a Bishop just last month on September 28. What was that experience like?

I got the news on the 29th of July. And then, as maybe your listeners will know, a bishop has three months during which he can receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders. So, I wasn’t alone, my colleague, Philippe Curbelié, who’s a Frenchman from Toulouse and serves as Undersecretary, was also ordained. So, it was a wonderful experience of friendship and fraternity to be able to plan the ordination and all the organization that went behind it together. And it was a very beautiful day for the entire office.

Please tell us about the special connection you have with a parish here in the archdiocese.

I have a longstanding tie and a friendship with the Parish of Saint Bartholomew on Palmer Road in Yonkers. In 1999, when I was doing graduate studies and finishing my summer exams, I had the privilege of spending eight weeks under Father Brian McCarthy, helping in the parish. He went on vacation for a month, and his associate went for another month.

And since that time, I’ve been coming back every year. I’ve done weddings, baptisms, funerals and special occasions for people. And this year marks the 25th year of my connection and my friendship with the parish.

We had a beautiful Mass last evening (Nov. 16) and a gathering in the McManus Center because he was a beloved pastor of the parish. It was wonderful to reconnect and to journey with the people 25 years later and to celebrate because many of them couldn’t come to the ordination ceremony at Peter’s Basilica so, I thought, well, it’s easier for me to travel and to see them there. So that’s really why I’m here.

You are from Dublin, Ireland and are now living in Rome, what are your impressions of New York City and the United States?

My answer to the question is the truth. I find there’s a great energy in this city. And if you ask people and if you have a plan and you want them to be on board, you’ll find this great willingness for people to come and actually help and assist and go with you in any project or plan that you’re doing.

And that’s been my experience in the States over the last 20 years, that if you actually have an idea and it’s a good idea, especially for the faith, people are on board and people are with you, and that enthusiasm and that energy is infectious.