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by Gretchen Keiser
ATLANTA—Archbishop John F. Donoghue has replaced his vicar
general, Msgr. Peter A. Dora, effective April 27 and named two priests to
succeed him as vicars general.
Father Paul H. Reynolds, pastor of St. Andrew Church, Roswell, has
been named vicar general in curia. Msgr. R. Donald Kiernan, pastor of All
Saints Church, Dunwoody, has been named vicar general for pastoral ministries.
Father Reynolds, 62, will handle the day-to-day business at the
Catholic Center and serve as moderator of the curia, Archbishop Donoghue said;
Msgr. Kiernan, 75, the senior active priest of the archdiocese, will focus on
archdiocesan matters that relate to the pastors and parishes.
Since both are pastors, both will serve part-time at first, the
archbishop said. He hopes to free Father Reynolds to serve full time in the
long term.
Under canon law, the diocesan bishop freely appoints and removes
the vicar general, who serves as his closest advisor and chief administrator.
The post must be held by a priest. By his office, the vicar general
“possesses that executive power in the entire diocese which belongs to the
diocesan bishop in law...” and normally has expert competence in either
canon law or theology.
Appointed in September 1997, Msgr. Dora has served for two and a
half years. Other than to say that it was the archbishop’s decision to
replace him, he declined comment. He said he plans to take a six-month
sabbatical granted by the archbishop and then be available for a new priestly
assignment within the archdiocese.
“I do want to thank (Msgr. Dora) for the work he has
done,” the archbishop said. “He worked hard and I am grateful for all
he did and for the generosity he showed. For the good of the church, he
willingly took this on.”
Ordained in 1972, Msgr. Dora has been a priest for 27 years and
was on the staff of the Metropolitan Tribunal for nine years, including four as
Officialis. He was a former editor of The Georgia Bulletin, communications
director and spokesman for the archdiocese. He designed the archdiocesan web
page and will continue to serve as webmaster.
Father Reynolds, a priest for 37 years, was born in Dublin,
Ireland, and is a graduate of All Hallows Seminary. He has served long tenures
as a pastor in Lilburn and Roswell parishes where he is highly regarded. He
founded St. John Neumann Church, Lilburn, served as its pastor for 11 years,
and has been the pastor at St. Andrew Church for over 11 years since 1988. St.
John Neumann Regional Catholic School was established and launched while he was
the Lilburn pastor.
He has been a member of the Priest Personnel Board and he serves
as a judge for the Court of Appeals of the Province of Atlanta and is the dean
of northwest metro pastors. In the 1980s he belonged to the archbishop’s
College of Consultors and served on the archdiocesan Board of Education.
“First of all, I think he is a wonderful priest, an excellent
priest. He has the right attitude about what a priest should be. He wants to
serve the church,” Archbishop Donoghue said. “He is a good priest,
respected by the people.”
Working with him on the Evangelization Committee for 2000-2001,
the archbishop said he has been impressed with his judgments.
Father Reynolds and Msgr. Kiernan “are two guys I feel very
comfortable with,” he said.
“I want to articulate, with their help, a new direction for
the diocese. I don’t know what that new direction should be. I need the
advice of guys who have been pastors practically all of their priesthood. I
want to do this gradually, but methodically and slowly, and do it well.”
As moderator of the curia, Father Reynolds normally will chair
weekly meetings of heads of Catholic Center secretariats, Archbishop Donoghue
said.
“Agency directors or secretaries will report through him to
me,” he said.
Father Reynolds said the archbishop’s decision was “a
major surprise” to him.
“I have had a parish, pastoral kind of life for 37
years,” he said, acknowledging that he approaches the new role with
humility.
“I will come in to learn the job,” he said. Although he
was reluctant to draw comparisons between a pastor’s role and that of the
vicar general, he said, as a pastor, “I do like to work with people. That
is my style. I like to consult ... I do like to talk to people.”
He said at St. John Neumann and at St. Andrew “I have been
very blessed ... in that there have been excellent people—just excellent
people.”
He said he plans to be at the Catholic Center a couple of days a
week and will work closely with Msgr. Kiernan.
Although he is a pastor in Roswell, where Queen of Angels School
is located, Father Reynolds said he was not involved in the recent controversy
that erupted over the budget and site-based management at the new Catholic
school.
Archbishop Donoghue said he would ask both new vicars to advise
him regarding Queen of Angels.
When a second vicar general is named, a specific area of
responsibility must be designated to that person, the archbishop said. In the
case of Msgr. Kiernan, that will be “pastoral ministries,” he said,
explaining that “where priests have concerns with what they want to do in
their parishes, they would go to him.”
Msgr. Kiernan, a native of Taunton, Mass., who studied at Mount
St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., celebrated his 50th jubilee of
priesthood in 1999. He chose Father Reynolds as the homilist for his jubilee
Mass.
A pastor with experience in six different parishes of the
archdiocese, Msgr. Kiernan most recently has been pastor of All Saints Church,
where he has served for over 14 years. He was pastor of St. Jude’s Church,
Sandy Springs, for 10 years, and of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Atlanta,
for eight years. He was editor of The Georgia Bulletin for 13 years.
In addition, Msgr. Kiernan has built a legacy of service to many
community and state organizations in Georgia, including chaplain to the Georgia
State Patrol, to the DeKalb County Police Department, to the local division of
the ATF and the Knights of Columbus. He founded the Georgia Association of
Chiefs of Police and has served as its director and chaplain for over 20 years
and serves on the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Atlanta Boy Scouts of
America. He holds honorary doctorates from Biscayne College in Miami, from
Georgia State University and from Providence College in Rhode Island. He was
named a monsignor in 1969. Like Father Reynolds, he serves as a judge for the
Court of Appeals of the Province of Atlanta.
“The reason I want Msgr. (Kiernan) in pastoral ministries is
that he gets along well with people and especially with priests and he has done
a variety of jobs in the diocese. He is politically astute,” Archbishop
Donoghue said.
Msgr. Kiernan said that he “intends to give (the post) as
much time as I feel that I’m of assistance to the archbishop. In other
words, he comes first.”
“When you are ordained, you pledge the archbishop your
loyalty,” Msgr. Kiernan said. “I’ve put 51 years in this
archdiocese. I want to feel I’ve left a contribution. I welcome this
opportunity.”
Despite his “senior” status, Msgr. Kiernan said that he
feels very well physically and “I really love this job.”
“If I found out I couldn’t also take care of this
parish, I would have to give (the parish) up,” he said. “ But I think
that I can do it.”
“I like people,” Msgr. Kiernan said, adding at his
parish, “I think everyone is happy to come to work here.” He
expressed hope that he could bring his appreciation for people to his
interactions with staff at the Catholic Center.
In relation to the controversy over Queen of Angels School, Msgr.
Kiernan said only that he would assist the archbishop in any way he was asked.
The archbishop “is a good man and he’s got the good of
the people at heart,” Msgr. Kiernan said. “I think he really wants to
have a good school system and spread the faith.”
Father Paul J. Hachey, SM, judicial vicar for the Court of
Appeals, said both Father Reynolds and Msgr. Kiernan “have offered
outstanding ministry to the Court of Appeals.”
“It is a wonderful choice for both men and for the
archdiocese,” he said.
The president of the Council of Priests, Father James Schillinger,
said that both priests have the respect of the priests of the archdiocese.
Father Reynolds “is a priest’s priest,” Father
Schillinger said. “He’s fair, he’s honest, he’s a man of
integrity ... He is a fine man and a good pastor. He very much enjoys the
respect of his brother priests.”
Msgr. Kiernan “has served the archdiocese long and
well,” Father Schillinger said. “He has been very visible not only in
the Catholic realm. He has been a good ambassador for the archdiocese outside
of Catholic circles.”
On the Council of Priests, “he was always balanced and fair
and had a lot of good humor,” the priest added. “Both are fine guys,
both are priest’s priests and they certainly enjoy on a very high level
the respect of their fellow priests.” |
