Rev. Farano’s passing ‘an end of an era’
Priest who served with several organizations dies at the age of 78
The Rev. Michael Farano, a longtime priest who was also heavily involved in community organizations in the Albany area, died Wednesday at the age of 78.
Farano’s career in the priesthood started when he was ordained at Albany’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in 1968.
But his draw to faith began well before that.
Growing up in Glens Falls as the son of Italian immigrants, Farano would see a statue of St. Anthony of Padua every time he walked into their kitchen, attended Mass at St. Mary’s Church every Sunday and was an altar boy in his local parish.
When he was in high school, Farano planned to become a history teacher. But he felt drawn to the clergy and ultimately applied to Mater Christi Seminary in Albany.
“I was going to go into the seminary for a semester and get it out of my system,” he told the Times Union in 1999. But his doubts about whether he was destined for priesthood soon faded.
“There was just something in me that seemed to say, ‘Stick with it,’” he said.
Farano began as an assistant pastor at St. Joseph’s parish in Arbor Hill. By 1974, Farano was appointed vice chancellor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and secretary to its bishop. Five years later, he was made chancellor — a post he would hold for 11 years before going to St. Pius X in Latham.
“This truly is an end of an era in the Diocese of Albany. Father Farano served the Diocese with fierce dedication for more than 50 years,” the Diocese of Albany said in a statement. “He held so many critical roles, it’s hard to know where to begin the list of accomplishments. He was a force for good throughout our Diocese, and always had the best interests of our priests, our parishes and our people at the center of all he did.”
Farano was heavily involved outside of the church, too. He was a member of multiple community boards and groups over the years, including St. Peter’s Hospital, the College of Saint Rose, the Albany Human Rights Commission and the Urban League. He also chaired the Albany County Airport Authority in 1998.
“We don’t want to just stay behind the altar. That’s our primary place and we know it, but we want to be part of the cloth of the community,” Farano said of his extracurricular activities in 1999. “We weren’t ordained to sit in church all day.”
Those who knew him through his community work described him as levelheaded, magnetic and funny.
After appointing Farano to the airport authority board, Peter Crummey, former minority leader of the Albany County Legislature, told the Times Union in 1999: “The reality is that we will never know all of the good that (Farano) has done in our community because he knows the everlasting value of humility.”
Funeral plans have not yet been announced.