A funeral Mass for Father Jay M. Flaherty was held Oct. 10 at Holy Cross Church in Pigeon Forge. He was the founding pastor of Holy Cross.
Father Flaherty died Oct. 5 in Nashville following an extended illness. He was 66.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated by Bishop Richard F. Stika on Oct. 10 at Holy Cross Church. Father Dan Whitman, pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Jefferson City, gave the homily.
Priests from the Diocese of Knoxville and visiting priests concelebrated the Mass.
A rosary for Father Flaherty was prayed on Oct. 9 at Atchley Funeral Home in Sevierville. He was buried at Smoky Mountain Memory Gardens in Pigeon Forge.
Father Flaherty was named the first pastor of Holy Cross Parish in 1993, shortly after joining the Diocese of Knoxville, and served in that position until 2011.
He joined the Diocese of Knoxville in 1992.
He was ordained a priest on May 11, 1985, at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville. He served as a priest in the Diocese of Nashville, first as an associate at the cathedral in 1985 and then as an associate at St. Henry Church in Nashville from 1987-1989. He also served as an associate at Immaculate Conception Church in Clarksville from 1985-1987.
He was appointed pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Hohenwald, Tenn., and also served as pastor of St. Cecilia Church in Waynesboro, Tenn., and at Christ the Redeemer Church in Centerville, Tenn.
