Remembering Father Jim Kennedy
The Cally will be saddened by the news that Fr Jim Kennedy, a long standing faith leader in our community, died on Saturday 16th August in Paphos on the island of Cyprus.
He was Parish Priest at Blessed Sacrament church in the heart of the Cally until 2009. He became the Catholic Borough Dean for Islington and he chaired Islington Council’s Standards Committee for many years. He was the first chair of Copenhagen Youth Project. He also helped to found the ex-servicemen’s association in the Borough and was a stalwart of the annual Remembrance Day ceremonies at Islington Green.
Fr Jim was ordained at St. John the Evangelist Church (Duncan Terrace) in 1980 and soon became the Priest at Blessed Sacrament where he served and led the community for almost a quarter of a century. After retiring from Blessed Sacrament, he left for an extended holiday on Cyprus and in his words at the time “simply decided to stay on” and he became Associate Priest in Paphos at St. Paul’s Catholic Parish, within the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
The Council recognised Fr Jim’s outstanding service to Islington by awarding him Freedom of the Borough in 2010.
The Caledonian Ward Councillors wrote an account of his times in our neighbourhood and the circumstances which led him to leave and take up a ministry on Cyprus.
Cllr Paul Convery knew him well and says: “Few people called him ‘Father Kennedy’ because he was ‘Father Jim’ to everyone. He was a deeply committed Catholic and served the church well. But most of all he gave everything to his pastoral duties and was a continual presence in the community. He was always at peoples’ side at times of accident and tragedy, most particularly in 1987 when he opened the church for days to receive, minister and help the families and survivors of the awful fatal fire at Kings Cross underground station.
“He was particularly committed to youth work and, during the decade when our neighbourhood began to experience serious gang related violence, he was a man with great authority who mediated between some of the feuding families and groups of young people. And he was the community’s reassuarnce when times got tough too. It was only natural that Fr Jim was asked by the Kinsella family to celebrate the life of Ben Kinsella with a funeral mass.
“But Jim was perhaps too much of an activist priest for the (then) Cardinal. Jim had begun to make retirement plans and secure a good (Franciscan) succession at Blessed Sacrament. But the Diocesan hierarchy forced him out and merged the Parish.
“Jim also had a secret passion, scuba diving, and whilst on Cyprus in 2009 he offered to help out a relatively poor Catholic parish that mainly ministered to a retired ex pat community of many nationalities. Fr Jim had been an organiser of Papal visits to the UK and, on learning that Pope Benedict was due to visit Cyprus in June 2010, Jim’s stay on the island was settled.
“We have missed him for fifteen years and now mourn his passing.”
Father Jim’s funeral arrangements:
Labour Councillors representing the Cally neighbourhood in Islington 
Diana Shelley comments:
What a loss! Father Jim was also a stalwart of the campaign to get High Speed 1 constructed to run below the Cally (with as little disruption from the construction locally) and his evidence for the Cally Rail Group case to the Select Committees was clear and effective. One thing I remember was his concern about identifying the ‘unknown’ victim of the King’s Cross fire in 1987. Father Jim kept in contact with the police (and reported to a list of us locally) regularly until Alexander Fallon was finally identified in 2004.
A life well lived. Rest in peace, Father Jim.
Sorry to hear of the death of Father Jim. As well as being a Catholic priest Father Jim was a Cally Character for many years. Everyone knew him and knew of someone he had helped. In turn he knew so many people in Caledonian ward whether religious or not. He was outspoken, fun, always ready to have a discussion on so many topics as well as being there in times of loss or need. He was loved by so many and such a loss to our community. I hope he had a wonderful “retirement” in Cyprus and was loved and highly regarded there too.
Sue C
On Thu, 21 Aug 2025 at 17:23, Labour Councillors representing the Cally neighbourhood