‘I would love to see women priests’, Mary Kennedy at Knock

Former RTÉ personality, Mary Kennedy, said she “would love to see women priests” during her opening talk at Knock Novena. Ms Kennedy was the first guest speaker at the 2026 Novena, talking on the theme of ‘Faith in full view’. Ms Kennedy said that “faith is part of our daily lives, and it’s never going to be perfect, but it’s very real and very important.”

She spoke about her love for the Catholic faith, and that there are parts she doesn’t love as much. Ms Kennedy mentioned the Church’s “checkered history” and said that exposing the bad past has “made the Catholic Church stronger.”

Another part of the Catholic Church the former presenter doesn’t like is the “male-dominated ministry.” She said that she thinks there’s great value in “having women in important positions in the Church” and that she feels “that women would have a huge contribution to make to the Church, and I would love to see women priests.” However, Ms Kennedy is aware this is “not going to change in my lifetime.”

Ms Kennedy said seeing her mother going to daily Mass at 7.30am influenced her faith foundation and that now she “love[s] the rituals”, she said, “I love Mass… I love the sound of the Angelus bell”. Talking about the Angelus bell, Ms Kennedy mentioned visiting Africa and listening to the Muslim call to prayer.

“I also love the sound of the Muslim call to prayer,” and continued, “If there’s one thing I would have liked when I was in a Catholic school and being taught by very committed Presentation sisters” was to learn about other religions during religious education class. Ms Kennedy believes that learning about other religions would have “enhanced” the experience of spirituality. “I just feel that it’s an important part of life and living.”