The bishop-designate, 43, succeeds Belgium-born Bishop Luc Julian Matthys, 76.
Michael Robert Kennedy was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, in 1968 and was ordained a priest in 1999.
The Diocese of Armidale has some 43,000 Catholics served by about three dozen priests and 45 religious.
Africa
And Monsignor Jeremiah Madimetja Masela, the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Polokwane, South Africa, was appointed its bishop.
He succeeds Bishop Mogale Paul Nkhumishe, 73.
The diocese has some 93,500 Catholics served by almost 30 priests and some 50 religious.
