Thomas C. Kelly

Born in 1931 in Rochester, New York, Archbishop Kelly attended Regis High School in New York City. He entered the Dominican Order in 1951 after two years of study at Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1958, he subsequently earned a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. in 1959 and a Doctor of Canon Law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome in 1962.[1]

In 1962, Kelly was appointed the secretary of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, headquartered in New York City. During his time in New York he also worked for the tribunal of the Archdiocese of New York and the Legion of Decency. In 1965 Kelly was appointed the secretary and archivist for the Apostolic Nunciature to the United States in Washington, D.C. After serving at the Nunciature for seven years, he was appointed associate general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1972. He was elected to a five year term as general secretary of the USCCB in March 1977.

In July 1977 Pope Paul VI named Kelly an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington. He was consecrated a bishop in August 1977 by then-Archbishop Joseph Bernardin at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. On December 21, 1981, Pope John Paul II appointed Kelly Archbishop of Louisville.[2][3] He served as Archbishop of Louisville until his retirement in 2007.

Kelly died at the age of 80 on December 14, 2011, at Holy Trinity Church (where he had been residing since his retirement) in Louisville, Kentucky[4][5]