New Dean as Monsignor McDonald leaves

14 Aug 2009

By Robert Hiini

Parish priest of one of Perth’s largest parishes to take over as Cathedral Dean when it re-opens.

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Archbishop Barry Hickey with Monsignor Michael Keating after the announcement at St Thomas More Church Bateman.

Monsignor Michael Keating will take over as Dean of St Mary’s Cathedral when it re-opens on December 8 after Monsignor Thomas McDonald resigned after 18 years in the job.
Mgr McDonald was appointed by Archbishop William Foley as Cathedral Dean in February 1992, six months before then-Geraldton Bishop Barry Hickey was appointed Archbishop of Perth – the man the outgoing Dean credits as being of the greatest help during his tenure at the Cathedral.
“He would not see it that way but he has been wonderful to work with and for,” Mgr McDonald said.
When Mgr McDonald was appointed as the Dean of St Mary’s Cathedral in 1992, he was determined to see the “Mother Church"” completed.
After years of being placed in the “too hard basket” by several generations of bishops and clergy beset by the challenges of their own time, Mgr McDonald says that he has spent the past 12 years of his life dedicated to making the completion of St Mary’s a reality, building on the nascent work of his predecessor, John Orsanski. As the completion of that project draws near, Mgr McDonald told The Record he feels that his time at the cathedral has come to a natural end and he is ready to take up a yet-to-be-announced position in the new year.
Mgr McDonald, who was ordained to the priesthood at St Mary’s Cathedral in 1975, said he will miss the Cathedral’s liturgy – "the heart of the cathedral" – and the sacred music as performed by St Mary’s Cathedral Choir.
”The cathedral is a very joyful place," he said. "It is a mysterious place of prayer where people come off the streets and visit, finding peace and contemplation by just being there.
“When one is appointed, after a while, you become totally immersed in the history, not only of the cathedral, but the whole archdiocese. When I was appointed I didn’t know very much but now I could write a book.”
In the past 18 years he has ministered amongst people from "all walks of life," saying that about 25 per cent of people he has dealt with in that time have been tourists while a survey of parishioners in 1999 showed that regular cathedral Mass-goers came from 65 different Perth suburbs.
Archbishop Hickey made the announcement on August 9 to a capacity congregation at the 9.30am Mass at St Thomas More Church, Bateman, one of Perth’s largest parishes, where Mgr Keating has been parish priest since September 1997.
The Archbishop said there was "no one in the Archdiocese who is more competent or more suitable" for the position of cathedral dean than Mgr Keating, describing him as a "stalwart in fundraising" – referring to his chairmanship of the St Mary’s Cathedral Appeal – and a man full of the necessary "zeal and enthusiasm" that will be required in his new appointment.
Mgr Keating said that he was honoured by the appointment and grateful for the trust that Archbishop Hickey was putting in him. Mgr Keating described his 12 years at Bateman as "the most challenging and enjoyable years of my life,” adding that he would be sad to be leaving such an "incredible and vibrant" parish.
“Never has a weekend passed in this parish when I haven’t enjoyed being your parish priest," Mgr Keating told the congregation.
He told parishioners that the $500,000 that St Thomas More parishioners had raised towards the completion of St Mary’s Cathedral had gone to developing its underground parish centre facilities that would contribute much to the life of the cathedral.
“I ask your prayers for the holiness and humility to perform as best I can,” Mgr Keating told the congregation.
Archbishop Hickey and Mgr Keating said that they were confident that the completed cathedral would be an iconic site, not only for Catholics, but for all the city’s people.
Fr Philip Perreau, currently parish priest of Clarkson, will succeed Mgr Keating as the third priest of St Thomas More parish. Fr Perreau was acting parish priest when Mgr Keating arrived at Bateman.
“If you don’t know him you will come to love him,” Mrg Keating told his parishioners.
“What a wonderful gift he will be to the parish. I’m sure you will enjoy him.”