Hawaii Catholic Herald
Father Joseph Hennen, who was influential in the field of substance abuse counseling even as he ministered in parishes across the country, including the Diocese of Honolulu, died July 17 in Rochester, Minnesota. He was 85 years old and had been a priest for 59 years.
Father Hennen was a Minnesota native. He was born Sept. 18, 1940, to Arnold and Emma Hennen of Ghent, Minnesota, one of six children.
Father Hennen remained in Minnesota through his childhood and began his seminary studies there, at Crosier Seminary in Onamia.
His post-secondary education also took him to Indiana, Washington, D.C., and New York; he earned master’s degrees in theology, psychology, substance abuse counseling, and family and marriage counseling.
He was ordained a priest in the Order of the Holy Cross (Crosier) in 1967, then served as formation director and prior-rector of the Theology School at the Crosier House of Studies in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He also served as a chaplain and a family therapist in New York, and was pastor of St. Stephen Church in Anoka, Minnesota.
Before he began his ministry in Hawaii, Father Hennen was a psychologist at Daytop Village, an adolescent substance abuse treatment center, in Millbrook, New York. He also founded an outpost of Daytop in New Jersey and was vice president of Our Common Ground, a California-based substance abuse and mental health treatment program for adolescents and young adults.
Father Hennen’s ties to Hawaii began in the early 2000s, when he began assisting at St. Theresa Church in Kihei, Maui, and were formalized when Bishop Larry Silva incardinated him into the Diocese of Honolulu in 2006.
The former Crosier priest was named associate pastor of the Hilo Roman Catholic Community, which comprised St. Joseph Church in Hilo and Malia Puka O Kalani Church in Keaukaha, in 2008; five years later he was appointed to serve as pastor of Malia Puka O Kalani Church.
Father Hennen retired in 2014 and returned to the mainland, where he became administrator of the parishes in several towns within the Diocese of Winona, Minnesota. An serious illness prompted his move in 2017 to a senior living facility in Rochester, Minnesota, where he still enjoyed celebrating Mass for residents.
Father Hennen was known for his inspiring homilies, sharp wit and genuine care. He is survived by his brothers, Ernest, Daniel (Judy) and Robert (Cara); sister, Jeannie (Ken) Saffert; and sister-in-law, Mary Joan Hennen, as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins.
His parents, brother John, and sister-in-law Jane Hennen preceded him in death.
His funeral Mass took place July 23 in Rochester; former isle priest Father Thomas Gross was one of the two priests who presided at the liturgy.
Father Hennen’s burial, alongside his parents in Ghent, will take place at a later date.
Macken Funeral Home in Rochester, Minnesota, contributed to this story.