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BY PAT GRISSOM
Special To The Bulletin
ATLANTA--Msgr. R. Donald Kiernan, pastor of All Saints Church, Dunwoody,
will be awarded an honorary doctorate by Georgia State University Aug. 15 in
recognition of his outstanding accomplishments in support of criminal justice.
Chief Louis Graham of the Fulton County Police Department said the honor
“couldn’t have happened to a better person. Our congratulations go
out to him.”
Chief Graham has known Msgr. Kiernan for 33 years, since Graham’s days
as a young police officer with the city of Atlanta. He still has the first
letter of commendation he received, written by Msgr. Kiernan after Graham spoke
to students at St. Anthony’s Parish in the West End.
Chief Graham said he is proud of Msgr. Kiernan not only for the doctorate,
but for “all his work in the church and community, especially in support
of law enforcement.”
Msgr. Kiernan began working with police officers in 1953, when he was
assistant pastor at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Atlanta. Two
officers responding to a routine call at the parish asked the young priest to
ride with them and he eventually accepted their offer. His initial curiosity
led to a commitment to law enforcement officers and issues and a series of
statewide accomplishments which brought him national and international
recognition.
In 1962, while pastor of St. Michael’s Church in Gainesville, Msgr.
Kiernan helped found the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police (GACP), a
statewide organization for chiefs of police and heads of law enforcement
agencies. The GACP offers training programs, continuing education and
opportunities for cooperative professional relations and information exchanges
among its members. The GACP, which started with 33 members, now has 550 active
members and over 500 associate members. Msgr. Kiernan served as GACP director
for over 20 years and as its chaplain for 19.
The fact that the GACP was organized by someone other than a police officer
was highly unusual and was noted by the International Association of Chiefs of
Police (IACP). In the late 1970s, Msgr. Kiernan served for five years as IACP
chaplain. He was first appointed by Atlanta Police Chief Herbert Jenkins during
his term as IACP president and then re-appointed by subsequent presidents.
Marietta Police Chief Bobby Moody, current president of the IACP, which now has
17,000 members from 109 countries, met Msgr. Kiernan 20 years ago when Moody
was a new police chief in Covington and considers him one of his mentors.
During his time in Gainesville, Msgr. Kiernan began riding with the Georgia
State Patrol. His involvement with the patrol and other agencies led to his
appointment by Gov. Lester Maddox to the original State Crime Commission. This
appointment was renewed by Gov. George Busbee and Gov. Zell Miller appointed
Msgr. Kiernan to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council when it replaced the
commission.
Msgr. Kiernan also served as secretary/treasurer of the Georgia Association
of Police Chaplains. As part of this organization, he helped convince the
General Assembly to pass a bill which authorized chaplains to be certified by
the Peace Officers Standards and Training Council. Georgia police chaplains
were the first in the nation to be certified.
Msgr. Kiernan is currently chaplain for the Georgia State Patrol, the DeKalb
County Police Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Atlanta
office of the U.S. Treasury’s Division of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms,
and Metropol, an association of supervisory personnel from police departments
and major corporations. Msgr. Kiernan holds the rank of captain with the
Georgia State Patrol and colonel with the DeKalb County Police.
DeKalb Chief Bobby Burgess, who has known Msgr. Kiernan for 25 years, calls
him “one of the finest, most outstanding people I know. He is a pleasure
to have around. We can always depend on him to assist officers and their
families, and it means a lot to have him there for officers in need.”
His experiences in law enforcement have proved to be interesting. While he
was not often involved in difficult police situations, he does recall a time
when he was asked to assist officers who were trying to keep a man from jumping
off a bridge into downtown traffic. Msgr. Kiernan distracted the man long
enough for a police sergeant to grab him from behind.
According to Msgr. Kiernan, the most enjoyable part has been the opportunity
to get to know and work with so many “different people, locally,
nationally and internationally...truly great men.” He concedes that had he
not entered the priesthood, he might have chosen law enforcement as a career.
According to Chief Burgess, he would have been well suited for the role because
“a good police officer has to have compassion and he has that.”
Msgr. Kiernan was born in Taunton, Mass., and attended Providence College in
Rhode Island. In 1945, he entered Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg,
Md., where a visit by Msgr. P.J. O’Connor convinced him to come to
Georgia. He was ordained on May 4, 1949, and began his first assignment as
assistant rector of St. John the Baptist in Savannah. He was named assistant
pastor at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in 1952 and served there
until he was named pastor of St. Peter’s in LaGrange in 1955. Since then
he has been pastor of parishes throughout North Georgia, including 10 years as
pastor of St. Jude’s Parish, eight at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, and
12 at All Saints where he has served since 1986. He was also editor of The
Georgia Bulletin for 13 years. In 1974, Msgr. Kiernan received an honorary
doctorate in public administration from Biscayne College in Miami.
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