Newspaper Page Text
' ' i
The Charm Of St. William’s
Enhances Peaceful Coastal Isle
BY THEA JARVIS
Visitors to Georgia’s St. Simons
Island soon learn that historic Christ
Church, founded in 1736 by John
and Charles Wesley, is far and away
the most renowned on this golden
isle.
What they don’t always discover in
their island travels, however, is the
quiet charm of St. William’s Catholic
Church, just south of Christ Church
on Frederica Road.
The simple mission-style building
brings to mind the early evangelists
of north Florida and south Georgia,
Spanish Jesuits and Franciscans who
brought the Christian faith to native
American Indians and gave their lives
in the process.
St. William’s Chapel itself began as
a mission of St. Francis Xavier
Church in Brunswick in 1929.
Nestled in the shade of the massive
live oaks that abound on the island
and sheltered by palms and flowering
azaleas, the chapel could initially
accommodate only 96 faithful
parishioners.
Currently, the church has a
capacity of 298, thanks to a chapel
addition completed in 1961. The
enlargement preserved the
mission-style appeal of the original
structure while “allowing many
parishioners to be seated during Mass
for the first time in 15 years,”
according to the souvenir dedication
booklet of December 3,1961.
The remarkable simplicity of the
church harmonizes easily with the
peaceful solitude of St. Simons.
White washed exterior walls
support a Florentine-tiled roof
boasting two bell towers, one of
which is an impressive two-tiered
campanile, the architectural highlight
of the 20-year-old addition. Standing
watch over island residents and
visitors who pass by on historic
Frederica Road are two small statues
of St. Joseph and St. Anthony,
sentried in carved niches on the
church’s eash side.
Up the tabbied entrance steps -
made of oyster shells, lime and sand -
and through heavy wooden doors, the
church interior is gentle and subdued.
A rustic beamed ceiling, wooden
flooring carpeted here and there for
protection, and sturdy wooden pews
are bathed in light by pastel-paned
windows somewhat faded with age in
the older section of the chapel.
The architectural marriage of the
old to the new is not readily
detectable inside, except perhaps in
the relative newness of the added
windows and the difference in ceiling
style. Reverence for the early
traditions of St. Williams, whose
patron is the 12th century Italian
monk William the Abbot, is still
evident in the altar statues of the
Blessed Mother and St. Joseph,
which were donated when the
original chapel was constructed.
Over the years, priests from the
Society of Mary (Marists) have
ministered to the Catholic
community of St. Simons Island.
According to Father Charles
Barrett, SM, presently associate
pastor at St. William’s, the Marists
came to Brunswick in 1897 and
served eight counties in south
Georgia and north Florida. To help
support their mission ventures, the
priests were put in charge of Sacred
Heart Church in Atlanta.
F ather Barrett, who taught at
(Continued on page 3)
St. William’s Church
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 20 No. 20
Thursday, May 20,1982
$8.00 Per Year
A Silver Celebration
For A Melkite Parish
IT WAS DEDICATION DAY for St. John Chrysostom Melkite
Church, June 9, 1957. Bishop Francis E. Hyland, first Bishop of
Atlanta, stands alongside Monsignor Haddad, pastor of St. John’s.
In the center is the late Father Vincent Connors, CP. On May 29
and 30 the Church will celebrate its Silver Jubilee.
BY MONSIGNOR
NOEL C. BURTENSHAW
Monsignor William Haddad
arrived in Atlanta from his native
Lebanon in September 1954. He
knew many languages, but English
was npt one of them. “I had been
in Boston for a little while,” says
the pastor of St. John Melkite
Church, “but had not even tried to
learn the language since I did not
believe I would stay in this country.
But Bishop Hyland changed all
that.”
Atlanta was still not a Diocese.
Bishop Hyland called the Melkite
priest from Savannah and told him
of the need for a Melkite parish.
Monsignor Haddad remembers
being somewhat alarmed as he
contemplated coming to the South.
“I thought about the Klan and the
prejudice'against Catholics and I
was fearful. But I prayed about it
and decided I would go but to stay
only for two years.” :
Twenty seven years later, and
now celebrating the silver
anniversary of his Church,
Monsignor Haddad remains on in
Atlanta.
“The people received me with
such love,” says the handsome
pastor, still retaining his
Mediterranean accent. “There were
just about 20 families in the city
then. Now we have grown to about
75 families. We grew together and
now we have a wonderful parish.”
For the first 18 months,
Monsignor Haddad lived at the
Immaculate Conception Church in
downtown Atlanta. “Monsignor
Grady was pastor and a young
priest from Boston was the
assistant. His name was Father
Donald Kiernan. He was always
with the police. I thought he was a
policeman at first.”
“Monsignor Grady was a fine
man and helped me with my
English. Father Donald was so nice
too, but I think in the beginning he
taught me phrases in English that
maybe I didn’t need to know. Oh, I
remember thinking I better watch
him. I loved the Immaculate, they
were grand days.”
The Melkite community now had
their priest. But how would they
build a Church? Drawings brought
to them by an architect were
exactly right for them, but a
fortune was needed to build. “We
did not know where to turn,” says
Monsignor Haddad. “However, God
took care of us. He showed us our
new home.”
The Ladies Auxiliary of the
American Legion was placing the
old Asa Chandler home on Ponce
de Leon Avenue for sale. It was a
three-acre site with excellent
buildings. And the cost was an
affordable $63,000. “It was a
Godsend,” remembers Monsignor
Haddad as he excitedly prepares for
the upcoming celebration. “The
people believed we would get our
home and we did.”
The Candler Home was
purchased and on June 9, 1957,
after renovations were made by the
little community, the Church was
dedicated.
Twenty five years have passed
and it is time for the Silver Jubilee.
Archbishop Joseph Tawil, head of
the Melkite Catholic Diocese in the
United States, will celebrate the
Divine Liturgy at 5 p.m. on
Saturday, May 29. The Silver
Anniversary reception will follow in
the Knights of Columbus Hall on
Buford Highway. Archbishop
Thomas A. Donnellan will be
present at the celebration.
Monsignor Haddad, proud pastor
of the Melkite community in
Atlanta, is very much the
international man. He has seven
brothers in West Africa, all of
whom work in the export-import
business. “My mother still lives in
Lebanon,” says the Monsignor.
“Our home is near Beruit, but,
thank God, she is not bothered by
the war. It is very bad. Some
decision on a Palestinian homeland
must be made if there is to be a
solution. We need to pray for
peace.”
As he has served his Melkite
Catholic Community, Monsignor
William Haddad has also served the
people of the Archdiocese. For
some years he was a teacher at St.
Pius X High School. He is well
known in all the Atlanta parishes
where he is a frequent and welcome
visitor.
The Silver Jubilee celebration at
St. John Melkite Church with all
its social festivities is open to the
public. Further information can be
obtained by calling the Church at
373-9522. They want all of us to
share their joy at St. John’s.
New Call For Support
Of Hatch Amendment
BY JIM LACKEY
WASHINGTON (NC) - The
director of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life
office has issued a new call for
support of the proposed Hatch
amendment on abortion.
Linking the issue to the recent
case of a Down’s syndrome baby in
Indiana who was starved to death,
Father Edward Bryce, director of the
bishops’ Office for Pro-Life
Activities, said May 5 the Hatch
amendment “provides a strong and
statement issued by the U.S. bishops’
conference.
“As long as these rulings are
allowed to stand,” he continued,
“the lives of the most defenseless
among us are in jeopardy not only
before birth but, as we now see,
afterwards as well.”
He said the Hatch amendment
would be a good vehicle “for
addressing this situation.”
The proposed amendment to the
Constitution could be considered by
specifically prohibit hospitals and
other providers of health services
receiving federal assistance from
discriminating against the
handicapped,” Reagan said.
Father Bryce also said that the
Indiana case showed that a “badge”
of personhood may not be enough to
assure the protection of the right to
life.
Critics of the Hatch amendment
have faulted it because it does not
give “personhood” to the unborn.
The Pro-Life Action Committee of the archdiocese is urging support for the Hatch
Amendment, particularly in the form of telegrams to Sen. Sam Nunn, who is among those
senators who have not said they will support the measure. The Hatch Amendment is expected to
be voted on in the Senate in early June. Forms to send telegrams to Sen. Nunn will be made
available in parishes this weekend.
effective vehicle” for restoring
respect for human life.
The priest also welcomed a
memorandum by President Reagan,
issued in the wake of the Indiana
baby’s death, ordering that federal
funds be cut off to hospitals which
discriminate in the treatment of the
handicapped.
And he hailed decisions by two
more members of the U.S. Senate --
Thomas Eagleton (D-Mo.) and
Edward Zorinsky (D-Neb.) -- to
co-sponsor the Hatch amendment,
bringing total co-sponsorship of the
measure in the Senate to eight.
“The recent ‘Bloomington (Ind.)
baby’ case . . . has dramatized for the
nation the legal and ethical logic of
the Supreme Court rulings on
abortion,” said Father Bryce in a
the Senate in June. It was approved
by the Senate Judiciary Committee
March 10.
Father Bryce said Reagan’s
memorandum seeking enforcement
of anti-discrimination laws for the
handicapped “is a welcome sign that
not every branch of our government
is prepared to withhold legal
protection from our most defenseless
citizens.”
Reagan in his memorandum to
Health and Human Services Richard
S. Schweiker and Attorney General
William French Smith, said
withholding treatment from
handicapped persons such as the
Indiana infant is a violation of
section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973.
“Regulations under this law
Father Bryce said the Indiana
baby certainly had personhood and
yet was not protected. “Clearly what
is immediately necessary for actual
protection of human life, born or
unborn, is well-written legislation
which will stand Up to constitutional
scrutiny,” he said, alluding to the
Hatch amendment.
Hatch opponents in the pro-life
movement instead want the Senate
to pass legislation introduced by Sen.
Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) which would
grant personhood to the unborn.
Father Bryce praised the addition
of Eagleton and Zorinsky to the list
of co-sponsors, calling it “another
sign of bipartisan support for the
Hatch Amendment in Congress.” The
two are the first Democratic
co-sponsors of the amendment.
CHURCH OF THE EPIPHANY - The
dedication of the new Epiphany Byzantine
Church in Roswell was celebrated Saturday, May
15. The Most Reverend Michael J. Dudick, Bishop
of the Byzantien Catholic Church, celebrated the
Liturgy with Father Philip P. Scott, pastor, and
other priests of the Eastern and Roman rites. The
bishop also joined the community for a
dedication banquet following the ceremony.