Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory has appointed Father Frank McNamee to serve as the new pastor of the Cathedral of Christ the King, effective Jan. 1, 2009.

The announcement was made on Nov. 29. Father McNamee will succeed the late Msgr. Thomas Kenny, who died in late October. Msgr. Kenny was the Cathedral rector for 18 years.

Like his predecessor, Father McNamee is an Irish-born priest. A native of Loughrea, Ireland, he is 40 years old and was ordained in 1995 at St. Brendan’s Cathedral in Loughrea by Atlanta Archbishop John F. Donoghue.

He was named the founding pastor of St. Peter Chanel Church in Roswell, where he has served for 10 years. St. Peter Chanel was established as new Catholic schools—Queen of Angels Elementary and Blessed Trinity High School—were built and opened adjacent to the parish. A new St. Peter Chanel Church was blessed and dedicated on Nov. 29. The parish, like the Cathedral, has sustained a perpetual adoration chapel.

Father McNamee also serves as the director of priest personnel for the Archdiocese of Atlanta and as dean of the North Metro Deanery. He is a member of the Council of Priests.

Father McNamee studied philosophy at St. Patrick’s College in Thurles and attended seminary at St. John’s College in Waterford City, Ireland.

His earlier assignments in the archdiocese include Holy Trinity Church in Peachtree City, St. Pius X Church in Conyers, Sacred Heart Church in Milledgeville and St. Catherine of Siena Church in Kennesaw.

As a seminarian, Father McNamee also gained pastoral experience in several medical settings, including St. Patrick’s Hospital for the aged and St. Otteran’s Psychiatric Hospital, and also took the chaplaincy course at Waterford Regional Hospital. He also worked in the cathedral parish of the Waterford and Lismore Diocese in southeastern Ireland.