Bishop Kevin Joseph Farrell was appointed the seventh Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas, Texas on March 6, 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI and was installed at the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Dallas on May 1, 2007.
Bishop Farrell was born in Dublin, Ireland on September 2, 1947. Bishop was ordained to the priesthood in Rome on December 24, 1978. He was later incardinated as a diocesan priest in the Archdiocese of Washington where he served in several parishes, including as Pastor of the Church of the Annunciation in Washington, DC.
His ministry in the Archdiocese of Washington included a wide variety of assignments including serving as the Director of the Spanish Catholic Center, the Assistant Executive Director and Interim Director of Catholic Charities, and the Archdiocesan Secretary of Finance and Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of Washington. He was named a Prelate of Honor in 1995 by Pope John Paul II, and was ordained an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington on February 11, 2002.
In addition to his duties as Bishop of Dallas, Bishop Farrell currently serves as the Chancellor of the University of Dallas, and on the Board of Trustees of The Papal Foundation, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, The Catholic University of America, and St. Luke Institute in Washington, D.C. He is the President of the New Evangelization of America, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Pontifical Irish College, Rome, Inc.
Bishop Farrell is the Treasurer of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; and Chairman, Committee on Budget and Finance of the USCCB.
BLAZON (heraldic description):
Arms impaled. In the dexter: Gules, on a fess per bend wavy Argent three fleurs de lis Azure, in the sinister chief two crossed swords Argent, in the dexter base a molet Argent. In the sinister: Per fess Or and Azure, a lion rampant per fess Gules and Or, standing on a mound of rock Argent.
SIGNIFICANCE:
The dexter impalement (on the observer’s left) displays the arms of the Diocese of Dallas. The red field honors the Sacred Heart. The diagonal wavy band with three fleurs de lis represents the Trinity River, named by early Spanish explorers, which flows through the diocese. The fleur de lis appears on the coat of arms of Pope Leo XIII, who established the Diocese of Dallas in 1890. The two silver swords in the upper right honor St. Paul, patron of the first permanent Catholic settlement in northeast Texas. The sword was the instrument of St. Paul’s martyrdom. The star in the lower left locates Dallas in Texas, the Lone Star State. The sinister impalement displays the arms of Bishop Farrell. The lion rampant honors Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, Archbishop emeritus of Washington, and the Irish sept of O’Farrell. In the upper portion of the shield, gold (yellow) and the lion (red) are derived from the Arms of Cardinal McCarrick, whom Bishop Farrell assisted as Auxiliary Bishop of Washington. The lower portion of the lion in gold (yellow) derives from the Irish sept of O’Farrell. Here a blue field has been substituted for the green of the O’Farrell Arms, to honor Our Lady of Lourdes, upon whose feast day Bishop Farrell received ordination to the episcopate at the hands of the Cardinal Archbishop of Washington. In the base of the shield is a silver (white) mound of rock, symbolic of Bishop Farrell’s patron, Saint Kevin (d. ca. 618). After ordination Saint Kevin settled as a hermit at Glendalough (Co. Wicklow, Ireland), in a cave called “St. Kevin’s Bed” formerly a Bronze Age rock tomb. Bishop Farrell’s arms are impaled with those of Dallas to recall the spousal relationship between the Bishop and the local church of which he has been appointed pastor. The motto, STATE IN FIDE (“Stand Firm in the Faith”) is from Saint Paul’s epistle to the Colossians, and complements the rock mound and the lion that holds an honorable position in biblical history. Behind the Arms is a gold (yellow) processional cross, symbolic of the episcopal rank. Over the whole achievement is a bishop’s hat, or galero, with six tassels on each side, disposed in three rows, all in green.
Bishop Farrell’s arms were devised by A. W. C. Phelps, of Cleveland, Ohio in 2002, in consultation with the Bishop.
Curriculum Vitae
Most Reverend Kevin J. Farrell, D.D. Bishop of Dallas
Born: | September 2, 1947, Dublin, Ireland |
Education: | M.A. Philosophy, Rome, 1970 |
S.T.L. Rome, 1977 | |
Ordained: | December 24, 1978, Rome |
February 11, 2002 Auxiliary Bishop, | |
Washington, D.C. |
Assignments:
1979 | University Chaplain, Monterrey, Mexico |
1983 | St. Thomas Apostle Parish, |
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. | |
1985 | Director of Catholic Charities and the |
Spanish Catholic Center, | |
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. | |
1987 | Vicar for Administration, |
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. | |
2001 | Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia, |
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. | |
2007 | Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas |
Auxiliary Bishop of Washington
February 11, 2002 Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington |
Bishop of Dallas
May 1, 2007 Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas |
Other Responsibilities:
University of Dallas, Chancellor | |
The Catholic University of America, Trustee | |
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Treasurer | |
Committee on Budget and Finance for the USCCB, Chairman | |
The Papal Foundation, Board of Trustees | |
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Member | |
New Evangelization of America, President | |
International Eucharistic Congresses in Rome, National, Delegate | |
Friends of the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, Inc., Member | |
Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference, Episcopal Moderator | |
St. Luke Institute, Washington, D.C., Board of Trustee |
Former member:
Committee on National Collections for the USCCB, Chairman | |
Committee on Divine Worship for the USCCB | |
Committee on Migration for the USCCB, Consultant | |
Task Force on Promotion of Vocations to the Priesthood and Consecrated Life for the USCCB |