Archbishop Tartaglia was joined at St. Andrew’s Cathedral on Saturday 8 June by priests from across the Diocese for a requiem Mass for Fr. Frank Kennedy of the Diocese who died in Argentina on 23 May and had been buried there. Among the congregation who gathered for the Requiem were his sister, Mary, who had come from Malta for the service, parishioners from the various parishes in which he had served, and friends and colleagues including Rev.Erik Cramb and other representatives from the Industrial Chaplaincy.
Before the Mass, the St. Mungo Singers and Dr. Noel Donnelly on harp provided quietly reflective music for the congregation, before leading them in the opening hymn “How Lovely on the Mountains” and the requiem introit “Just as Jesus Died and Rose”. After the Liturgy of the Word (Job 19:1, 23-27; Ps.62; Romans 14:7-12; Matthew 11:25-30), Archbishop Tartaglia welcomed Fr. Frank’s family, friends and colleagues and, quoting from Job, reminded all present of our faith in the Resurrection and our hope for eternal life.
Reflecting on Fr. Frank’s life, he recalled his passion for social justice. He had served as an industrial chaplain at Govan and Yarrow Shipbuilders and he had given 20 years of his ministry in Argentina. His interest in Liberation Theology had begun during his studies in Rome when he had made many friends among the South American seminarians, and his period of ministry in Argentina had possibly been his most productive. Archbishop Tartaglia remembered him as an able, original and creative thinker who could provide a challenge to you to think more deeply. As St. Paul says (in the second reading) “the life and death of each one of us has its influence on others”, and so with Fr. Frank.
