Bishop Kevin J. Farrell
Bishop of Dallas (2007)/Former Auxiliary Bishop of Washington

Bishop Kevin Joseph Farrell was born in Dublin, Ireland in September 1947. One of four boys, he graduated from the Irish Christian Brothers High School in Drimnagh, Dublin. He entered the novitiate of the Legionnaires of Christ in 1966 and received an M.A. in Philosophy and an S.T.L. in Theology after studies in Rome.

After being ordained to the priesthood in Rome on December 24, 1978, then-Father Farrell was assigned to be the chaplain for the University of Monterrey in Mexico. While there, he conducted seminars in bioethics and social ethics.

Bishop Farrell first visited the United States in 1967 while raising funds for the missions of Latin America through the Propagation of the Faith. His first assignment in the Archdiocese of Washington was as associate pastor at St. Peter, Olney in 1984. He then served at St. Bartholomew in Bethesda and St. Thomas the Apostle in Washington, DC.

In 1986, he was chosen by Cardinal James A. Hickey to be the director of the Spanish Catholic Center, an agency of the Archdiocese of Washington that primarily serves the Hispanic community and new immigrants through legal assistance, education, employment assistance and health care. In 1987, Bishop Farrell also became assistant executive director of Catholic Charities and then was named the interim director in 1988.

From 1989 to March 2001, he served as Secretary of Finance for the Archdiocese of Washington. He was named a Prelate of Honor, with the title of Monsignor, in 1995 by Pope John Paul II.

From October 2000 to March 2002, he was pastor of Annunciation parish in Northwest Washington, DC. Since March 2001, he has served as vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Archdiocese of Washington. He was ordained an auxiliary bishop in Washington, DC on February 11, 2002 and was named Bishop of Dallas on March 6, 2007. He was installed in that See on May 1, 2007.

Bishop Farrell serves on the board of directors of CLINIC (Catholic Legal Immigration Network) and is a member of several committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, including Consecrated Life, Migration and Hispanic Affairs.

He is fluent in Italian and Spanish. His brother, Bishop Brian Farrell, is on staff at the Vatican.

Read about Bishop Farrell's Coat of Arms