Reverend Monsignor Peter G. Finn

Monsignor Peter Finn, a North Shore native, a graduate of St. Peter’s Boys' High School, former co-vicar of Staten Island, pastor of Blessed Sacrament R.C. Church, and one of the most beloved religious figures on Staten Island, has died.

He was 84.

Monsignor Finn died Sunday, March 6, the day of the 2022 Forest Avenue St. Patrick’s Parade and 43 years after he walked down Forest Avenue as the Grand Marshal in 1979.

Monsignor Finn was ordained in 1965 after completing studies at St. Joseph’s Seminary and College in Yonkers, N.Y., the Major Seminary for the Archdiocese of New York. He celebrated 50 years as a priest in 2015.

He was appointed monsignor in 1986.

The monsignor was born in the old Staten Island Hospital on Castleton Avenue in Tompkinsville on Oct. 6, 1938, when his parents lived in an apartment in St. George. From St. George, the family moved to Bement Avenue in West Brighton.

During World War II, “all my uncles went to war, and we moved to Stapleton to live with my grandmother,” he told a reporter in 2015. When the conflict ended, and his uncles returned safely from military service, the family moved back to West Brighton.

After his ordination in 1965, Monsignor Finn served at St. Mary’s R.C. Church in Rosebank for a year and then was assigned to St. Catherine’s Church in Pelham, N.Y., for two years.

He was on the faculty at Monsignor Farrell High School for 15 years, including as principal. He then was appointed director of communications for the Archdiocese of New York, under Cardinals Cooke and O’Connor, becoming pastor of St. Joseph-St. Thomas parish on the Island’s South Shore after that, where he served for 12 years.

He was transferred from St. Joseph-St. Thomas and appointed rector of St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., his alma mater, and served there for six years before assuming the helm as pastor of Blessed Sacrament.

Monsignor Finn was an active supporter of ecumenical activities on Staten Island and the Council of Churches. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus, Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the Knights of Malta. He also served on a number of boards of directors, including Project Hospitality, the Staten Island Catholic Youth Organization, Carmel Richmond Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, the Seton Foundation, Archdiocese of the Ladies of Charity, the NAACP and the Staten Island Center for Independent Living.

A visitation for Monsignor Peter Finn will be held Friday, March 11, 2022 from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Blessed Sacrament RC Church, Forest Avenue & Manor Road, Staten Island, NY 10310. A Mass of Transferal will occur Friday, March 11, 2022 from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will occur Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 10:00am, followed by a committal service at St. Peter's Cemetery, 52 Tyler Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10310.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.harmonfuneralhome.net for the Finn family.