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Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 18 No. 16
Thursday, April 17,1980
$6 Per Year
PAPAL RECOGNITION
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Sacred Heart
Paul Hallinan and Norm Kelly
grew up in the priesthood together.
It was Cleveland and the young
energetic clerics were inseparable.
But the war came along and Father
Hallinan went off island hopping
with the Engineers in the Pacific. It
was the first separation of the well
known pair.
The returning soldier-priest was
ushered into University work by the
Bishop while Norm continued his
day in, day out
beloved parish
ministry.
The pair had
a running,
recurring
dialogue often
quoted by their
friends. Kelly
would say to
Hallinan with a
warning grin
“Watch out, the
Bishop has his
eye on you. You are headed for
higher things.” And Hallinan would
reply. “Kelly you have the only job I
ever wanted - a parish priest. The
only reason I became a priest was to
baptize babies.”
1958 rolled around and the Kelly
prophecy became a reality.
Monsignor Hallinan was raised to the
Episcopal heights and named Bishop
of Charleston The first gift he
received in the mail was from Norm.
It was a silver shell, used to pour
water at Baptisms and inscribed “the
only reason I became a priest was to
baptize babies.”
The shell became a fun-charm that
Archbishop Hallinan kept very close
at hand for the rest of his life. He
made no secret that retirement
would see him studying history at
Notre Dame University. But to a
close friend he once revealed a
greater preference. “I would like to
be a pastor for a few years. -And the
parish I would like is Sacred Heart
downtown. Now that’s some parish.”
No Atlanta Catholic would choose
to contradict the Archbishop on any
subject. And none would want to on
the subject of the beloved downtown
home of the faith. Sacred Heart
without any doubt is “some parish.”
It has stood close to Peachtree
Street in the downtown area for 100
years. For Catholics living on the
“Northside” of the city, Sacred
Heart was home. They went there for
every blessed thing. They went to be
instructed, educated, preached to,
consoled and finally eulogized.
Sacred Heart was all a Georgia
Catholic needed.
For almost the entire length of its
century of history, the great-hearted
parish was in the capable hands of
the Marist Fathers - true magicians of
ministry. Not only did these men of
Mary proclaim the Ivy Street center
as a haven of service, they gave birth
to other apostoiates, generously
responding to the needs of a
missionary church.
The famous Marist Military school
was founded down there, carved
from the city streets. Questions
about religious preference were never
asked as boys from every walk of life
were molded into Christian men
under the watchful eye of the no
nonsense educators.
And the Marists also remembered
their call to be missionaries,
preaching the word. From the
sanctuary of Sacred Heart, they set
out to strange sounding places like
Marietta in far flung Cobb County to
open new missions, new parishes and
new schools as the infant Atlanta
Church began to grow. At one point
in the history of the Church in North
Georgia, the boundaries of the
generous parish and her missionary
sons reached into every square mile
north to Tennessee. The thoughts of
Sacred Heart were always outreach -
near and far.
This week brings all the memories
back. It has been a hundred years of
giving and growing, of ending and
beginning fresh. The second century
will mean mountains of new
challenges for Sacred Heart to gladly
climb.
If an Archbishop originally
became a priest merely to baptize
babies, he would have found
complete fulfillment among the
many missions of old Sacred Heart.
Honorees At Sacred Heart
BY SHARON PERRY
Two Atlantans will be honored
this week by Pope John Paul II
during ceremonies observing the
one-hundredth anniversary of the
founding of Sacred Heart Parish.
The Papal medal “Benemerenti”
and diploma for outstanding service
to the Church will be conferred upon
Eva (Mrs. Robert) Schnore and
Joseph T. McGrath by the Most
Reverend Thomas A. Donnellan,
Archbishop of Atlanta, on behalf of
the Pope.
The presentation will take place
during a Solemn Pontifical Mass at
5:30 p.m., Saturday, April 19, at the
twin-towered church at 353
Peachtree Street downtown. The
Mass ends a week-long Centennial
celebration by the parish that began
with publication of the Centennial
book last Saturday (April 12) and a
tent top Homecoming party on the
church grounds Sunday (April 13).
McGrath and Mrs. Schnore are
long-time members of Sacred Heart.
McGrath is being honored for his
work with transients and indigents in
connection with his membership in
the Saint Vincent de Paul Society.
Mrs. Schnore is being honored for
her long-time work with the sick and
for her activities on behalf of the
(Continued on page 8)
A Quiet Man...
BY JAMES TARBOX
“Joe McGrath is a strange man.”
The speaker is Father Thomas Roshetko, once pastor of Sacred
Heart Church and now an assistant in the parish. He is talking about
Joseph McGrath, a long time parishioner at Sacred Heart who will
receive a papal medallion from Archbishop Thomas Donnellan during
the Sacred Heart Centennial Mass.
A man devoted to the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, the charitable
arm of the church, he is, none the less, a very strange man according
to the priest who, in the words of Joe McGrath himself, knows him
best.
“Not strange in the “strange” sense,” Father Roshetko explained,
“He’s just a contradiction sometimes. He is totally devoted to the
Saint Vincent de Paul Society, but he tells off those who seek the aid
of the Society too often. He’s a good man, a bit gruff.”
This gruff man who is known throughout the parish of Sacred
Heart as a tireless worker for the poor is truly reluctant to talk about
himself. “Well, you know I was taken by complete surprise when
Father Morris - the Sacred Heart pastor - told me that I was going to
get this honor from the pope. I had no idea it was going to happen.”
The Sacred Heart of Jesus has played a large role in the life of Joe
McGrath. Born on Long Island, New York, Mr. McGrath was baptized
and raised in the Church of the Sacred Heart.
“I lived there for a good while,” he says in a still audible New York
speech cadence, “and I’ve lived in Macon where my wife is from down
in that area.”
Joe McGrath’s wife of long standing, Edith, is singled out for
special credit from Father Roshetko.
“Edith McGrath deserves special credit,” asserts Father Roshetko,
“she is not Catholic, but has stood behind all of Joe’s work with the
Saint Vincent de Paul Society. She is prouder than anyone about his
honor.”
The work of Sacred Heart’s Saint Vincent de Paul Society is unique
among the city’s parishes.
While other parishes in the city are poorer, at Sacred Heart there is
a cross section of all the elements of society.
When asked about this, Joe will talk for hours on the work of St.
Vincent DePaul.
“We have a unique St. Vincent de Paul Chapter at Sacred Heart.
Being at the crossroads of the city we see every kind of person - we’ve
got the Union Mission types, the Hispanics, all that need our help.”
“And they get it too,” says Father Roshetko, “the Chapter is made
up of people like Joe McGrath and they take their responsibility
seriously.”
In addition to his Saint Vincent de Paul work Joe McGrath serves
as an usher at the Sunday Masses at Sacred Heart. Characteristically, it
is Father Roshetko who elaborated.
“The ushers serve a real purpose at Sacred Heart,” the priest said,
“they not only seat people, they provide a bit of warmth and greeting
to them. Joe is one of the best.”
A quiet man, Joe McGrath.
“His works speak for him,” insists Father Roshetko. They have
spoken loud enough to receive papal honors.
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EASTER SERVICE - Archbishop Hilarian
Capucci, second from left, and the Rev. Jack
Bremer of Lawrence, Kan., conduct an Easter
HOS TA GE SITU A TION
service for three of the 50 U.S. hostages held in
the U.S. Embassy in Teheran.
Pope Pleads For Peace
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope
J >hn Paul TI recency sent personal
appeals for peace to the four world
leaders most directly involved in the
Iranian hostage situation, the Vatican
said April 13.
Father Romeo Panciroli, director
of the Vatican press office, would
not comment on the content of the
messages to U.S. President Jimmy
Carter, United Nations Secretary
General Kurt Waldheim, Iranian
President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr and
the Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s
principal religious leader and
ultimate authority.
But an English-language version of
the papal message to Khomeini was
broadcast April 12 on Radio
Teheran, the Iranian national radio
station.
Using the papal “we” and
referring to the Iranian religious
leader as “your eminence,” Pope
John Paul said: “With aii sincerity,
permit us to express the profound
anxiety which grips our heart at the
worsening of relations” between the
United States and Iran.
“We have already expressed the
same sentiments to President
Bani-Sadr, to the secretary general of
the U.N. Dr. Kurt Waldheim and to
the president of the United States
Jimmy Carter,” the papal message
said.
“Raising our hands in heart-felt
prayer, we implore the grace and
good will of the Omnipotent in order
that the noble nation of Iran, which
is very dear to us, may be
safeguarded and the region, already
grappling with another deeply rooted
problem, may be protected from
even more grave dangers,” Pope John
Paul added.
He asked Khomeini to use his
“influence and power” to work out a
“just solution” to the U.S.-Iranian
controversy which has kept 50
Americans imprisoned at the U.S.
embassy in Teheran since Nov. 4.
According to sources in Teheran,
the papal message to Khomeini was.
delivered personally by Archbishop
Annibale Bugnini, apostolic
pronuncio in Iran.
Father Panciroli said the messages
from Pope John Paul were sent
shortly after the foreign ministers of
the nine European Economic
Community nations, meeting in
Lisbon, Portugal, April 12, called for
the immediate release of the
American hostages.
Slain Leader Rescued Bishop
Liberian President William R.
Tolbert Jr., assassinated April 12 in a
group reportedly led by the Liberian
army, was a major figure in
negotiations which led to the 1979
release from prison of Archbishop
Raymond Marie Tchidimbo of
Conakry, Guinea.
Archbishop Tchidimbo was
sentenced in 1971 to life at hard
labor for allegedly supporting an
unsuccessful invasion of Guinea,
which borders Liberia in West Africa.
The release came after prolonged
negotiations between the Vatican
...My Mouth Dropped Open...
BY JAMES TARBOX
“My mouth dropped open, I
just knew that it couldn’t be
true.”
Those are the words that Eva
Schnore uses to describe the
feelings she had when told that
she and another member of the
Sacred Heart parish would be
honored with Papal medals for
their long time work in the Sacred
Heart Parish.
A life long member of the
Sacred Heart parish, Mrs. Schnore
was told by her pastor, Father
Michael A. Morris, that she and
another parishioner would be
receiving the Papal awards during
the Pontifical Mass scheduled to
mark the 100th anniversary of
Sacred Heart. “I knew it was some
kind of mistake,” Mrs. Schnore
bubbled, “when Father Morris
told me about it I couldn’t
comprehend what it all meant.”
What it all means is official
church recognition for a lifetime
of service to the church and the
community.
“I’ve lived all my life in the
Sacred Heart parish, I’ve been
baptized and married there - it is
my parish,” insisted Mrs. Schnore.
Eva Schnore can recall the
early days of Sacred Heart, when
it was called Saints Peter and Paul.
Those days the church was
located on Marietta and
Alexander Streets. It was a
residential neighborhood, not like
the busy downtown location that
Sacred Heart enjoys today.
“Back then the church was just
a little building, not much at all,”
said Mrs. Schnore. “Everyone
knew everybody else, you knew
their pews and they knew yours.”
Even when she was younger,
Eva (or as she was called by her
friends ~ “little Eva”) knew that
her life would be wrapped around
Sacred Heart. “Back when I was
little, around 1900 or 1901, I led
the first May Procession in honor
of Our Lady that Sacred Heart
had ever had.”
As she became older, Eva’s
work in the parish became the
dominant factor in her life - after
her family. “I was married in
Sacred Heart, and my husband
and I (Robert Schnore) watched
our two daughters grow up in the
parish.”
From that first May procession
at the turn of the century, Eva
Schnore has dedicated her life to
her parish.
She was a member of the first
children’s choir, the altar society,
worked with the nuns at the
Cancer Home and was actively
involved with volunteer work at
St. Joseph’s Hospital. Through it
all she has seen changes - changes
in the world, the city, the church
and the parish.
“Oh, ail the priests and pastors
that have been at Sacred Heart,
they’ve all been so nice to me and
to everyone,” said Mrs. Schnore.
“But they’ve been nice to
everybody. I’ve never seen Father
Morris, or Father Roshetko, or
any of the priests at the church
shun anyone - they’ll always find
time to make you welcome.”
“Eva Schnore is an example to
all of us, all the priests of Sacred
Heart,” insists Father Thomas
Roshetko, a former pastor and
now assistant at the church. “She
deserves the honor that the Pope
has bestowed on her.”
“Well I don’t know about
that,” the honoree said with
genuine humility, “I just hope
that when I’m gone I’ll be
remembered for my work with
the sick.”
Remembered she will be.
“There is no one who does as
much with the sick as Eva
Schnore,” insists Father
Roshetko. “She’ll visit them in
homes, hospitals, and nursing
homes, she’ll go where they are.
Remember her altar work and her
Rosary work-but above all
remember her work with the
sick.”
“All I try to do is brighten a
sick persons day, I just do my best
to make them feel good,” says
Eva, “it’s just a little thing.”
Little things from “little Eva”
have added up to a lifetime of
service.
More On Sacred Heart, Page 3
and Guinea, with Liberia as the
go-between.
Shortly before the release, a
Vatican envoy reportedly visited
Monrovia, the capital of Liberia,
carrying a letter from Pope John Paul
II to Tolbert concerning Archbishop
Tchidimbo.
After his release last Aug. 7,
Archbishop Tchidimbo flew directly
to Liberia to meet with Tolbert, then
flew to Vatican City to meet Pope
John Paul on Aug. 12.
A week later, the pope called the
release a “consoling occurence” and,
without naming Liberian or Guinean
officials, expressed his “great
appreciation to those who made it
possible.”
The Vatican then accepted the
resignation of the 57-year-old
Archbishop Tchidimbo as well as
Guinea’s other bishop, 60-year-old
Bishop Eugene Maillat of
N’Zerekore, Guinea, possibly in an
effort to smooth relations between
the church and the Guinean
government by replacing religious
order priests with native diocesan
clergy.
Tolbert also had an audience in
1977 with Pope Paul VI at the
Vatican. The pope praised Tolbert
for his support of Vatican activities
on behalf of world peace.
Neither Liberia nor Guinea are on
the itinerary for Pope John Paul’s
six-nation Africa trip May 2-12. One
of the six nations, the Ivory Coast, is
on Liberia’s eastern border.
Liberia was a pro-Western country
whose government and economy
were modeled after the United
/States. It originally was formed in
the early 1800s by freed slaves who
returned to Africa to establish their
own country.
Tolbert, who became Liberia’s
president in 1971, was president of
the Baptist World Alliance from
1965 to 1970.