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VOLUME 7 NO. 6 ATLANTA, GEORGIA THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1969
High School
StudentsGet Word
On Future
Father Jerry Hardy Father Henry Gracz Father Michael A.Morris
Vice Chancellor Cathedral Vice Rector Director;
Religious Education
Sunday Feb. 9th
An Archdiocesan Vocations
Day (Role Call Day) is being
planned for Sunday, February
9th trom 2:00 to 5:30 P.M.
at Cathedral Center.This event will
be for all Juniors and Seniors in
the parish High Schools of
Religion. No other CCD classes
will be scheduled for this
particular age group on February
9th or in the week following.
Separate programs will be held at
the Cathedral Center. A
committee of the Sisters’ Senate
will run the program for the girls
and the Archdiocesan priests for
the boys. The planned program
will include films, speakers, group
discussions and will include folk
liturgy with a multi-media
homily. Father Morris, Director
of the Office of Religious
Education, stated: “We are very
pleased to be able to cooperate
with Father Hardy, the Vocations
office, the Sisters’ Senate and the
Serra Club of Atlanta- The
vocations recruitment problem is
a deepening crisis on the national
scene. Here in Atlanta, due to the
dedicated efforts of the priests,
our vocations outlook is generally
more hopeful. However, here in ■
this expanding metropolitan
center of Atlanta, if we are to
keep pace withthecontinued.rapid
increase in Catholic population,
^then our efforts must be renewed
and rendered even more effective.
We have never before seriously
tried the: vocations possibilities of
those who are not in our Catholic
High Schools, Beginning with this
Role Call Day on February 9th,
we initiate a new program and
hope to discover new sources of
dedicated young people who
would wish to commit their lives
to the work of Christ and his
Church,”
“This “Role Call Day” is just
a try. We have never had much of
an approach to the whole public
school sector of potential
priesthood or religious vocations.
Last year I visited a couple of
parish Schools of Religion, but
that was just as limited. This year
I think we have the makings of
something.”
“One thing I want to clear up
is that this is not a Rally type of
thing where there’ll be a lot of
high-pressure hard sell. 1 see it as
a day of acquaintance,
experience, and contact with the
whole fuzzy idea of vocation,
presenting the work of the-priest
and sister as real possibilities.”
“As 1 said, tins' whole thing is
an attempt. If interest and
enthusiasm are any indicators of
possible success, then I think the
Day will do the job. Everybody
working on it has been great, and
I only hope now that we have a
good turnout. Of course, even if
we reach only a handful, that’s
enough to justify the whole
idea.”
On this day, we look for
two to three hundred boys and
girls in their Junior or Senior
year of High School. Together
with priests and sisters of the
Archdiocese, they will participate
in a program which is designed to
present the unique vocation of
religious The afternoon will be
not so much a rally 'as
concentrated effort to present
the possibilities of vocation in
this era.
Ralph McGill represented
everything that was great and
good in the South. His passing
makes us poorer, but his life
was such a bright example that
it has instilled in us a desire to
continue his mission of peace
and justice for all God’s
children. We mourn him, but
we are richer that he has lived
among us and touched all our
lives. May his courageous
urgings always receive our
willing acceptance in these
difficult days.
+ Thomas A. Donnellan
Archbishop of Atlanta
Parishes Organize
Charities Drive
Gets Underway
Three IDeanery meetings last
week brought parish
representatives from all over
North Georgia for discussions on
the Archdiocesan Charities and
Development Fund Drive to take
place on Sunday, March 9, 1969.
The goals were set for each parish
and the overall goal was set for
the Archdiocese. Each group
returned to their respective parish
ready to open preparations
immediately.
It was agreed that a Special
Gifts Phase should begin on
Sunday, February 9, when larger
gifts would be requested of some.
A special committee in each
parish is being set up to take care
of this phase.
In speaking to each group,
Archbishop Donnellan stressed
the needs which this vital
program will accomplish in our
Archdiocese. “The emphasis”, he
said, “has been on-growth. Since
1956 our Archdiocese has
continued to grow. Almost each
year, we have seen a new parish, a
new facility, new people moving'
in. But these people must be
served. Many need counseling and
other service that only a good
Catholic Social Service can give.
But growth,” continued the
Archbishop, “should not hide the
other problems' of a Southern
Diocese. We still have our poor in
the cities and our mission
parishes in rural areas. They must
get our complete attention and
dedicated service. Our close
cooperation during this one day
drive will give us a beginning, a
starting help in the great task we
face together.”
During each - meeting, Father
Burtenshaw, Chancellor of the
Archdiocese, brought to the
attention of all the Archdiocesan
budget for this fiscal year. This
budget had been reviewed at the
beginning of the year by all
the priests of the Archdiocese.
But seeing it once more reminded
all of the programs and projects
which this Drive on March 9 must
fund.
Since these three meetings,
the note from each parish has -
been one of optimism. The
priests and people are seeing that
the expenses of the Drive will be
kept at a minimum, giving the
Archdiocese an opportunity to
use all donations to the fullest
possible good.
Each week short explanations
are being made at each Mass,
emphasizing the difficult
programs that the Drive will
serve. The one day' fund drive
asks a minimum (gift of $25.00
from each wage earner on
Sunday, March 9.
Recalls Pope’s
Celibacy Views
VATICAN C ITY—Percle
Cardinal Felici of the Roman
Curia has recalled in
L’Osservatore Romano, the
Vatican city newspaper, that
Pope John XXIII and the Second
Vatican Council were stout
defenders of the institution of
priestly celibacy.
He quoted the words Pope
John spoke on Jan. 26, 1960:
“The law of ecclesiastical
^celibacy and the concern to
sustain it still remain a recall to
the battles of the heroic times
when the church had to struggle,
and succeeded, for the success of
the glorious trilogy that is always
the emblem of victory: the
Church of Christ, free, chaste and
catholic.”
Charities And Development Fund Will Be A One Day Drive