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The
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 23 No. 20 Thursday, May 16,1985 $10.00 Per Year
Papal Message:
Dutch Christian Communities
Must Stay Within Parishes
BIG PLANS — Father Mario which is in the building stage
DiLella beams over the plans for now and should be completed
Tech’s new Catholic Center this summer. Ke,ser
New Catholic Center Underway
No More Ramblin'
For Tech Chaplain
BY GRETCHEN KEISER
Wearing a hard hat
with a cross on the front,
Father Mario DiLella
picked his way across a
construction site bustling
with workers and sloppy
with red Georgia clay
soaked by four days’
rain.
The striking,
three-level building is
clearly rising and a
homemade sign proudly
proclaims, “New
Catholic Center” for
Georgia Tech, “coming
this summer!”
Working his way in to
where the front entrance
on Fourth Street will be,
“Father Mario,” as he is
known at Tech, pointed
out a sweeping area
where Masses will be
held. Open through two
stories, the chapel will
seat 300 and its 20-foot
ceiling will create a
church-like atmosphere.
On the same level will be
a separate conference
room, a Blessed
Sacrament chapel, a
kitchen and a TV lounge
room. On a lower level
there will be a recreation
area and rooms for a
live-in Tech student who
will exchange
maintenance work for
room and board. On a
top level, Father Mario
will have his own
quarters with bedrooms,
kitchen and living area.
There will be a roof deck
and a courtyard
accessible at the front,
room for parties and
Bible study classes, for a
large Mass celebration or
a sit-down dinner for
students and parents.
This will be so
different from the way
campus ministry has
been for him that Father
Mario says, after 15 years
at Tech, he believes he is
beginning an entirely
new ministry.
“I have no idea what
that ministry will be
like,” he said later,
attempting to describe
the great change in
circumstances that the
new Catholic Center will
bring about, “But I
imagine it will be just
revolutionary.”
Until now, the trim,
energetic priest, who is a
Franciscan, has been part
of what he describes as a
“peripatetic church” at
Tech, moving on ;
Saturdays and Sundays
to various locations on
campus big enough to
hold Mass. The current
Catholic Center, a small
house on Third Street,
has long been too small
for Sunday Mass, but is
still used to celebrate
daily Mass for students.
On the weekends,
Father Mario totes his
Mass kit in one of two
bags, using a baggage
cart, either to the
Presbyterian Center or
the Student Center
Theater for his Masses.
Sometimes, he said, he
might have posters under
one arm to advertise
retreats or other
activities, or an armful of
special tee-shirts. Social
activities, like the parties
held every school quarter
at the Catholic Center,
are “elbow-to-elbow” in
the little house, he said.
(Continued on page 8)
BY AGOSTINO BONO
UTRECHT, Netherlands
(NC) - Pope John Paul II
told Dutch basic Christian
communities May 12 that
they must remain within
the parish structure.
In doing so he spoke to
a multifaceted movement
that includes groups
having lay people perform
a eucharistic ceremony
which includes reception
of a host.
The pope’s warning
came in a May 12 speech
to priests and parish
workers in Utrecht.
“The danger is that
these communities regard
themselves as the only
form of churchliness. They
run the risk of splitting off
into small groups and
setting themselves against
what they refer to as the
‘institutional church’, the
pope said.
“These communities
cannot offer themselves as
alternatives to parishes.
They, as much as any
other Christian group,
have the duty of being
prepared to serve the
parish and the diocesan
church. They must form
an integral part of the
parish and diocese,” he
said.
The pope was criticizing
a 15-year-old movement in
the Netherlands in which
small groups of people
Pastoral:
New Farm
Section
The first draft of
the bishops’ pastoral
on the U.S .
economy now has its
section on “Food
and Agriculture”:
the main message is
that the nation
needs to save its
small and moderate
-sized family farms
and stop favoring
large corporate
farms. See page 7.
gather for Bible reading
and reflections on what
Scripture means in their
lives. Currently, there are
about 55 such groups in
the Netherlands. Most
form part of a parish and
members attend Mass at
their parish.
But these communities
are also in loose
association with others
which began as Catholic
groups and now are
outside the institutional
structure. Some include
Protestant members and
allow lay people to
perform liturgical
celebrations.
The communities began
around 1970 as an effort
to give local Catholic
groups more autonomy in
liturgy, understanding of
the Scriptures and choice
of leaders.
Some quickly came into
conflict with the bishops.
The Student Church of
Amsterdam, for example,
retained a married
ex-priest, despite the
opposition of church
authorities, and lost its
(Continued on page 10)
375 Years Of Service
Celebrated In Jubilees
BY RITA McINERNEY
This is a year of joy and grace for 10 sisters of the
Archdiocese of Atlanta who are celebrating milestones in
their religious lives. Five of them are being honored on
their 50th anniversaries and five on their 25th
anniversaries. In all, they have served the Church and its
people for 375 years and expect to continue their work
for many more years.
Their service is in the traditional roles as teachers and
nurses and in specialized areas with pregnant women and
girls, youth with learning disabilities, troubled
adolescents, the sick and lonely in the parishes and in the
city.
Most of them have been part of the joyful liturgies
celebrated at motherhouses in distant states. Nostalgic
reunion-receptions are part of the celebrations when the
jubilarians get together. A number are being honored by
the school children and parishioners they serve. Just
recently, on April 29, the Atlanta Conference of Sisters
honored them at a prayer service and festive dinner at the
Village of St. Joseph.
The honored sisters received corsages during the prayer
service which was prepared and led by the members of the
jubilee committee of the conference. Personal gifts were
presented to each celebrant present at the dinner which
followed in the gym-auditorium.
Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan was among the 70 or
more guests.
Among sisters celebrating 50 years in religious life is
Sister Roberta Joseph Sutton, C.S.J., who was the subject
of a feature story in the March 14 issue of The Georgia
Bulletin. A member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of
Carondelet, St. Louis, Mo., she helps the poor and the
elderly of Atlanta for Catholic Social Services.
The other sisters being honored on their golden jubilees
are:
SISTER BETTY DONOHUE, G.N.S.H., who has been
serving in the archdiocese, although not consecutively, for
about 35 years. She has been principal and superior at
Christ the King School and at the now defunct D’Youville
Academy in Chamblee. She has taught at St. Pius X High
School and been a pastoral assistant at Holy Family in
Marietta. Now she can be found working in the library at
(Continued on page 13)