By Thea Jarvis

The Cathedral of Christ the King was filled to capacity Aug. 12 as family and friends of Monsignor John Francis McDonough gathered to celebrate his life and mourn his death at a Mass of Christian Burial.

Monsignor McDonough, 78, died of cancer Aug. 9 at Holy Spirit Church in Atlanta, where he had lived and worked since 1987.

Ordained in his native Boston by Cardinal Richard Cushing in 1941, Monsignor McDonough spent 45 of his 51 years of priesthood in service to Georgia Catholics and to every bishop in the history of the archdiocese from 1956 to the present.

Under Archbishop Paul Hallinan, he was vicar for Religious and president of the Priests' Senate. During the illness of Archbishop Thomas Donnellan in 1987, he became archdiocesan administrator, continuing in that capacity until the installation of Archbishop Eugene Marino, SSJ, in 1988.

Monsignor McDonough served as vicar general from 1978 to 1988, a position which made him responsible for the archdiocese in the absence of a bishop. He was founding pastor of Holy Spirit parish and rector of the cathedral from 1972 to 1987.

"So many in this church have been recipients of his generosity," said Father James M. Cummings, SM, homilist at Monsignor McDonough's funeral Mass. It was a generosity that included "his family, his fellow priests, parishioners in parishes in which he has served," as well as poor parishes and missionaries.

Considered the dean of Atlanta priests, Monsignor McDonough was an original member of the "Thursday Group," a circle of priest-friends who met for golf and camaraderie on the traditional priests' day off.

"I did not have much time to know him, but I have more than a few times heard Monsignor McDonough called the 'dean of priests,' and with good reason," said Archbishop James Lyke, OFM, who presided at the funeral Mass and cited McDonough's "splendid vocation" as a model for fellow prelates.

"His preaching and teaching always displayed the sincerity of one who was dedicated to making a difference, of one who insisted on making things better," the archbishop said. "His bearing was dignified, his speech gentle, founded on the knowledge that one of the inescapable blessings and crosses of the priesthood is to give good example."

Addressing the large numbers of priests in the congregation, Archbishop Lyke said, "I am sure that it was not his purpose, I am sure that he would be the first to deny it, but his life, now finally given to God, sets a certain standard for the rest of us."

"His modesty cannot be offended by the tribute we pay him today," the archbishop said. "He faced the challenges, the needs, the difficulties, the boredom, the ups and downs that pursue all of us as we walk the way of Christ's priesthood."

But in Monsignor McDonough's vocation, Archbishop Lyke said, he found his unique identity.

"This is, perhaps, the finest gift he has left for his fellow priests, that by remembering his splendid career, we ourselves may become better priests, and trust in the power of our own vocation to find true self-fulfillment and to show forth the love of Christ for all people."

The morning liturgy was attended by fellow priests, Religious, deacons and laity, as well as members of Monsignor McDonough's family from Boston. Retired Episcopal Bishop Judson Child was a special guest on the altar.

Msgr. McDonough's sisters, Dorothy Devlin of Dorchester, Mass., and Ann Cipriano of Quincy, Mass., presented the offertory gifts, along with the priest's close friends, Dr. and Mrs. Paul Nagode.

Scripture readers were Sister Betty Donohue, GNSH and Bill Bonner.

John Francis McDonough was the third of seven children born to Mary and Thomas McDonough in South Boston. After high school, he attended Boston College for two years before entering St. John's Seminary in Brighton, Mass.

Young Fr. McDonough was assistant pastor in two Boston-area parishes before enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1944. He was assigned to Fort McClellan, Ala., and quickly grew fond of the South, realizing its potential as mission territory.

He asked for and was granted permission to serve the Church in the South for a period of five years. After three years, he decided on a permanent move and was incardinated into the archdiocese of Atlanta in 1949.

Monsignor McDonough's first assignment was as an assistant pastorship at Christ the King in 1947. He took on rural pastorates at St. Peter's, LaGrange, in 1956 and St. Mary's, Rome, in 1959 before starting Holy Spirit parish in 1964.

Monsignor Edward Dillon, vicar general of the archdiocese and pastor of Holy Spirit who concelebrated the funeral Mass, spoke of the affectionate regard priests, staff and parishioners had for their community's founding pastor.

"People often mentioned how they were inspired by the monsignor's devotion to duty," Monsignor Dillon said, particularly as his health grew more fragile.

Monsignor McDonough celebrated daily and Sunday Mass until the end of May, Father Dillon explained, when he was hospitalized and returned to Holy Spirit too weak to offer Mass in the church.

On his 78th birthday this July, Monsignor Dillon related, the small group of regulars who attend Holy Spirit's 8:30 a.m. Mass serenaded Monsignor McDonough with strains of "Happy Birthday" under his open rectory window.

Over the years, Monsignor McDonough served as spiritual director of the Atlanta Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women and chaplain of the Serra Clubs. He was named a monsignor in 1969 and in 1990 received the Tree of Life Award from the Jewish National Fund.

"The monsignor was first and foremost a gentleman priest in a diocese without a long history," said Father Patrick Bishop, pastor of Transfiguration parish in Marietta and president of the Priests' Council. "He was one of those who kept us in touch with who we are by remembering where we have come from. His Bostonian grace commanded respect, as he always walked with dignity."

Father Bishop, along with Fathers Edward O'Connor, James Miceli, Richard Morrow, Brendan Doyle, Thomas Carroll, MS, and Philip Gage, SM, were pallbearers at the funeral Mass.

Father Bishop, a native Atlantan, remembered Monsignor McDonough's guidance when he was considering a position as principal in a high school outside the archdiocese 10 years ago.

"He sat down with me and helped me refocus on why I became a priest for the archdiocese of Atlanta," Father Bishop said. McDonough spoke "in the most tender way," he said, never pressuring him with authority, but gently leading him back to his archdiocesan allegiance.

"It meant even more coming from a Bostonian with a major commitment to the archdiocese," he said. "I'll always remember him for that."

Murphy Faust, Monsignor McDonough's secretary for 27 years, said he was the most considerate person anyone could work for, with two standard answers that became his trademark replies: "No problem" and "No way."

His strength was in his relationships with people, Mrs. Faust said, adding that "you knew where you were with him at all times."

"As busy as he was" administering the cathedral, she said, "he still gave private instruction to any number of people for weeks, months at a time."

Sheila Mallon, former director of the archdiocesan pro-life office and currently director of Project Common Sense, got to know Monsignor McDonough through the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women.

At social events, Mrs. Mallon said, he could be counted on for his "beautiful voice," a gift he shared easily. "He was just a charming man -- warm, funny, with a great sense of humor."

Cathedral parishioners Jim and Ginny Conrads were friends of long standing who also appreciated the priest's warmth and wit.

He "tended to be a very private person" until people got to know him, said Mr. Conrads, who admired the way Monsignor McDonough reached out to others.

"He was never interested in how he was going to benefit," he said. "I think he touched a lot of people in this archdiocese."

Monsignor McDonough was a loyal friend to the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, who have taught at Christ the King school since its opening, said Sister Jean Liston, GNSH, the order's major superior and principal of the school from 1976 until 1988.

She admired the priest's integrity, humility and deep faith, she said, and found him "very supportive of Catholic education and of me as school principal." His presence was an "energizing" force in her work at the cathedral, she said.

At an Aug. 11 wake service at Christ the King, Father Richard Morrow remembered first meeting Monsignor McDonough when the two were rural pastors.

"No sooner had I arrived" at St. Bernadette's in Cedartown, Father Morrow said, than McDonough, pastor in Rome, "was at the door, inviting me to lunch."

"I felt so inexperienced coming into his presence," he said, "but when I left he was a brother priest anxious to share hospitality, wisdom and humor."

Years later, when Father Morrow was inducted in to the Thursday Group, he watched his friend choose the high road if gossip threatened.

"Whenever Mac sensed the discussion of the group might descend into criticism," Father Morrow related, "we would bring up some obscure theological point, take the more unpopular position and before long, all 10 of us were involved in a most lively theological discussion."

Referring to Monsignor McDonough's decline in health, Father Morrow said he can be remembered as "healthy and vigorous. Then there was the problem of the detached retina, then the first stroke, then the second, brought on perhaps because he so loved the people of God and could not turn away from their needs."

"Finally, there was the cancer," he said. "But he came to serve, not to be served. He recognized the call to love was only assured when it involved real sacrifice."

His friend was "a person who by his life showed us that everyone can follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, a priest who gave witness to the fact that the priesthood can be the most fulfilling, a satisfying life that a man can be blessed with," Father Morrow concluded.

Archbishop Lyke presided at the wake service, assisted by Monsignor Dillon and Monsignor McDonough's cousin, Monsignor John P. McDonough, a pastor in Peabody, Mass., who proclaimed the Gospel.

Monsignor McDonough is survived by his two sisters and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorial donations may be made to the Catholic Foundation of North Georgia or the St. Pius X High School Endowment Fund.

(Rita McInerney contributed to this story.)