Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney

Bishop Sweeney is a native of Queens, New York; he was born on January 17, 1970, to the late James and Agnes (nee Blewitt) Sweeney. He has a sister, Marie Shanahan, and a brother, Brendan, and five nieces and nephews. Bishop Sweeney grew up in St. Luke’s Parish in Whitestone.

He attended Cathedral Prep from 1984 to 1988 and was an outstanding baseball player for the high school seminary team, excelling as an infielder, outfielder, and pitcher. While his dream of playing professional baseball never panned out, he was inducted into Prep’s Hall of Fame in 2013. After high school graduation, Bishop Sweeney entered Cathedral Seminary House of Formation in Douglaston and studied at St. John’s University, receiving a B.A. in philosophy in 1992. He then entered the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington and received an M.Div. in theology. During his time at the Seminary in Huntington, Kevin spent a pastoral year at St. Agatha’s (Brooklyn).

On June 28, 1997, Bishop Sweeney was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Brooklyn by Bishop Thomas Daily. Bishop Sweeney’s first assignment as parochial vicar was to the parish of St. Nicholas of Tolentine (Jamaica) from 1997 to 2003. He was then assigned to Our Lady of Sorrows (Corona) from 2003-2004.

In 2004, Bishop Sweeney was named by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio as the vocation director. During his time as vocation director, which lasted until 2010, he also served as the first director of the (St.) Pope John Paul II House of Discernment.

In January, 2010, Bishop Sweeney was appointed pastor of St. Michael’s Parish in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where he served for ten years. Bishop Sweeney is fluent in Spanish, having studied the language extensively in programs in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. 

Installed as the eighth bishop of the Church of Paterson on July 1, 2020, at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, New Jersey, Bishop Sweeney officially became the new shepherd of the 82-year-old Paterson Diocese after Pope Francis appointed him to the position on April 15, 2020.