Father Terence E. Finnegan

Father Terence Edward Finnegan was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota on April 28, 1947, to Mary Ellen McNeary and Firman Bernard Finnegan and departed from this world December 19, 2024. He is survived by his brother James, and his sister Mary Agnes. 

He attended St. Thomas College in St. Paul, Minnesota from 1965-1969 majoring in Chemistry and earning a Bachelors degree in Music under the direction of Monsignor Richard Schuler. He served for a short time as a Catholic school teacher from 1970 to 1972 before entering the seminary in October of 1973. Attending the International Seminary of St. Pius X at Econe in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland, Father Finnegan was ordained a priest of the Society of St. Pius X on June 29, 1978. He said his first mass in Munich, Germany. 

After his ordination in 1978, Father Finnegan was assigned to the Southwest District of the U.S., at that time under the leadership of Father Hector Bolduc, being stationed at Queen of Angels parish in Dickenson, Texas. The following year, in 1979, he was transferred to Our Lady of Sorrows in Phoenix, Arizona where he was also assigned to an arduous mass circuit every two weeks having to travel on a Sunday to San Francisco Bay Area (Walnut Creek), Sacramento, and South Lake Tahoe, returning to Our Lady of Sorrows in Phoenix the following Monday. He was the pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows until 1992, when he founded Our Lady of Quito Parish, also in Phoenix. He continued as Pastor of Our Lady of Quito, zealously laboring for the salvation of souls, until his death on December 19, 2024. 

Dear Father Finnegan, May You Rest in Peace.

 “The highest principle in the Church, we are first of all under the obedience to God and only then to man.” Fr. Hesse “But Peter and the Apostles answering said, we ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5-29 

On Wednesday, January 8, 2025 at Our Lady of Quito, 9009 S 18th St, Phoenix, AZ 85042, a visitation will be held from 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. with rosary recitation to begin at 6:30 p.m. 

On Thursday, January 9, 2025 at Our Lady of Sorrows Priory, 750 E Baseline Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85041, a rosary shall be held at 10:00 a.m. with a Requiem Mass to be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Burial to follow at St. Francis Catholic Cemetery.