Georgia Bulletin

The Newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta

Atlanta

Father Terry Kane, priest for 49 years in archdiocese, dies

Published May 18, 2017

ATLANTA—Father Terence “Terry” A. Kane passed away on May 17 at the age of 75.

Father Terry Kane

Born Dec. 24, 1941, in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland, Father Kane was among the 40 Irish priests drawn to the mission territory of Georgia by the invitation and inspiration of Msgr. P.J. O’Connor when he was vocations director of the Atlanta Archdiocese.

The son of Matthew and Mary Ellen (McCann) Kane, Father Kane studied for the priesthood at St. Patrick’s College, Carlow, Ireland, and was a member of the seminary class of 1968. He was ordained a priest on June 8, 1968, by Bishop Patrick Lennon of Kildare and Leighlin at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Carlow.

During his 49 years of priesthood, Father Kane served the people in many parishes, including as a parochial vicar at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, Most Blessed Sacrament, Atlanta, St. Thomas More, Decatur, and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Atlanta, which was his first parish and to which he returned as pastor 17 years later.

He was the founding pastor of St. Oliver Plunkett Church, Snellville, which, at his behest, was the first church in the United States to be named for the saint honored in his hometown of Drogheda.

His first pastorate was at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Atlanta, and he later was pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Church, Kennesaw. His concluding years as a pastor were spent at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Hartwell, where he served from 1998 until his retirement in August 2010.

The vigil service and funeral Mass will be celebrated jointly for Father Kane and for Msgr. Leo P. Herbert, a priest of the archdiocese for 50 years, who passed away on May 15.

The reception of the bodies will take place at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 23, with visitation from 4:30 to 7 p.m. A vigil service, celebrated by Bishop Luis R. Zarama, will take place at 7 p.m.

The funeral Mass, concelebrated by Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory and the priests of the archdiocese, will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 24, at the Cathedral of Christ the King. The funeral Mass will be streamed online at www.livestream.com/ctk.

Interment for Msgr. Herbert will take place immediately following the Mass at Arlington Memorial Park, Sandy Springs. Inurnment of Father Kane’s cremains will take place on Saturday, May 27, at 2 p.m. at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Hartwell.