Kenny Aquino

Fr. Kenny Aquino is the kind of priest people simply say they love. It is not an elaborate compliment, but it says everything about the way he shows up for those around him. Warm, approachable, and genuinely enthusiastic about his faith, Fr. Kenny carries with him a spirit shaped by a childhood in the Philippines near Naga City, where Catholicism was not just practiced but lived out loud. As a boy, he would ring the church bells at three o'clock in the morning to call villagers to Simbang Gabi, a nine-day Christmas novena Mass that began before sunrise. The missionary priests who served his community left a deep mark on him, from the Spanish priests in his parish to the Irish Jesuit who mentored him spiritually. He was ordained on September 8, 1990, in the Archdiocese of Nueva Caceres, and what he describes as God's providence first brought him to the Diocese of Orlando in 1998 through the local office of the Propagation of the Faith. He returned in 2004 and was incardinated into the diocese in 2009, serving at parishes including St. Joseph in Winter Haven, Holy Family in Orlando, and Our Lady of the Lakes in Deltona before being appointed pastor of St. Vincent de Paul in Wildwood in July 2023.

What makes Fr. Kenny stand out is how naturally his faith and his Filipino heritage come together in everything he does. He serves as liaison for the Filipino Ministry in the Diocese of Orlando, a role close to his heart, and has watched that community grow to include twenty-seven active parish ministries across the region. He has performed concerts with fellow Filipino priests and helped lead celebrations of Simbang Gabi and the feast of Our Lady of Antipolo, traditions that keep the faithful connected to their roots. But his care reaches well beyond culture and tradition. Moved by the needs of disadvantaged children back home in Caceres, he founded The Anawim of Caceres, Inc., and even after moving to Florida, he continued raising support for those children through private donations and the Filipino community in Orlando. At St. Vincent de Paul, he is now leading efforts to help the parish grow and evolve alongside its expanding community. Fr. Kenny once said, "There have been miracles, little and big, extraordinary and ordinary moments that have mixed together and I know everything that has happened, has happened in the right way. I am so grateful that I see God's hand in my life. I am God's instrument."