By Bill Leverette

“From time to time each of us reaches that point where we need someone to turn to for spiritual guidance and counseling…When looking toward the religious field to identify people who, down through the years, have proven their devotion to law enforcement, many names come to mind. However, two names would automatically go to the top of the list prepared by any law enforcement officer in this state.”

That statement is the first part of Special Order number 20, issued by the Georgia State Patrol in August, 1971. In that special order, two chaplains were named to represent the Protestant and Catholic faiths as honorary captains in the Georgia State Patrol. They were the Rev. Jimmy Waters of Macon, Protestant chaplain, and the Rev. Msgr. R. Donald Kiernan of Atlanta, Catholic chaplain. This was an event significant to Msgr. Kiernan, a man who has devoted his life to serving his fellow man while he serves God.

Msgr. Kiernan is presently pastor of St. Jude’s Parish in Atlanta. It was while he was “Father” Don Kiernan of Immaculate Conception Parish, also in Atlanta, that he became interested in police work. This was in 1951, when two officers answered a prowler call at the church. After they had checked the premises, Msgr. Kiernan had coffee with the officers, discussed police work, and was asked if he would like to ride on patrol with them. He did, and this began a relationship that has been good for the police, the Church and the community.

In 1959, he was appointed chaplain of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police by Chief Troy McLung of Lagrange, Ga. He has been consecutively re-appointed by the following police chiefs: Leo Blackwell of Griffin, Ray Pope of Waycross (now director of the Georgia State Patrol), George Ward of Elberton, Wilbur Perkerson of Valdosta, W.M. Moss of Cedartown, Howard W. Smith of Clayton County, and Willie Allen of Forest Park.

Along with his associations on the state level of law enforcement, Msgr. Kiernan has had a long involvement with the International Association of Chiefs of Police. This is a 7,500-member organization of police chiefs serving 64 countries of the free world. In 1965, he was named associate chaplain by Chief Phillip Purcell of Newton, Mass., and re-appointed to that position in 1966 by Supt. William Morris of the Illinois State Patrol, and in 1967 by Chief Leonard G. Lawrence of Hamilton, Ont.

The same year Msgr. Kiernan was appointed to the Governor’s Crime Commission by Gov. Lester Maddox and elected chairman of the Juvenile Delinquency Committee of this Commission.

In 1970, the monsignor was appointed to the position of chaplain of the International Association of Police Chiefs by Chief John Shyrock of Kettering, Ohio, and was re-appointed to this prominent position in 1971 by Chief George Murphy of Oneida, N.Y.

This impressive list of associations in the area of law enforcement only describes a part of Msgr. Don Kiernan’s involvement with community affairs. He has a legion of friends. Some of these are in Atlanta’s West End Rotary Club, of which he has been a long-time member. Active in the club, he always has a humorous story to relate when he performs his duty of introducing visiting Rotarians. Charlie Bolden, one of the Rotarians, says that “Msgr. is a human sort of person…well-liked, always pleasant.” It was this humorous quality that led Msgr. Kiernan to quip, when named to his position in the Georgia State Patrol, “I guess I’m the first man to work for two popes.” One is of course, Pope Paul VI; the other is Col. Ray Pope, director of the Georgia State Patrol.

Of the many spoken tributes Msgr. Kiernan has received, one of the nicest comes form Atlanta’s Police Commissioner Herbert Jenkins, who said last week:

“Msgr. Kiernan is a great fellow. He is an asset to this city…to the whole community. He has a better understanding of the problems of the police, and problems in general, than anyone I know.”