Newspaper Page Text
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 23 No. 22
Thursday, May 30, 1985
$10.00 Per Year
ART PREVIEW — Father Tom
Brislin gives two students at St.
Paul of the Cross school, Erica
Hayden, eighth grade, and
Zachery Jones, third grade, a look
at the icon of St. Charles Lwanga,
Ugandan martyr, which will be
dedicated at the church on Sun
day, June 2. (See story on Page 7)
Three To Celebrate
Silver Anniversaries
BY GRETCHEN KEISER
Three priests serving in
the archdiocese are
celebrating silver jubilees
this year. And it is also the
anniversary of a priest who
has gone on to become the
bishop of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Father Edward O’Con
nor pastor of St. Michael’s
in Gainesville, Father
Michael Flanagan, M.S.,
pastor of St. Clement’s in
Calhoun, Father Gerald
Biron, M.S., who recently
came to the parish of St.
Thomas the Apostle in
Smyrna, and Bishop
Eusebius J. Beltran of
Tulsa, formerly of the ar
chdiocese, are marking the
25th anniversaries of their
ordination.
Parish parties and con-
celebrated Masses, and a
special afternoon of golf in
Calhoun, are among the
celebrations planned to
mark the occasion in Atlan
ta.
Fr. Edward O’Connor
Father O’Connor, who
was in Oklahoma for the
celebrations in honor of
Bishop Beltran, will be the
center of attention in his
own parish at 4 p.m. Sun
day, June 2. A con-
celebrated Mass at the
church will be followed by
an open house in the social
hall which is expected to
draw some 500 people.
While the actual date of
his ordination is June 19,
1960, Father O’Connor ex
plained in a letter to his
fellow priests that he will
be in the “Holy Land” of
Roscommon, Ireland on
that date, so the celebra
tion is coming early in
Gainesville.
Born in Roscommon,
(Continued on page 8)
Anti-Abortion Legislation
Tacked On To House Bill
BY LIZ S. ARMSTRONG
WASHINGTON (NC) — House committees have passed
two different versions — one with an anti-abortion amend
ment, one without — of the Civil Rights Restoration Act of
1985. The bill is designed to overturn a Supreme Court deci
sion that only those sections of a university which practice
discrimination can be penalized by withdrawal of federal
funds.
The House Education and Labor Committee May 21 add
ed an anti-abortion amendment to its version of the bill.
The next day, however, the House Judiciary Committee
approved another version of the bill, including an amend
ment declaring that the legislation says nothing either for
or against abortion.
Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National
, ’.ight to Life Committee, called the Judiciary Committee
-nendment on abortion a “sham.” He said the Education
nd Labor Committee amendment, by contrast, constituted
* an important pro-life victory.”
The Education and Labor Committee also approved a se
cond amendment broadening the religious exemption
coverage of the anti-sex-discrimination act commonly
known as Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments
package.
The Judiciary Committee May 22 turned down a proposed
“religious tenet” amendment.
The House Rules Committee was slated to resolve dif
ferences in the two versions of the bill.
Under Title IX, an educational organization controlled by
a religious organization is exempt from the regulation if
compliance would conflict with religious tenets.
The U.S. Catholic Conference, which backs the Civil
Rights Restoration Act, with certain changes, had sought a
widening of the “religious tenets” clause to ensure protec
tion to non-educational institutions as well.
Advocates say the broader exemption would protect such
a facility as a Catholic hospital from having to provide
abortion coverage in its employee insurance if it receives
federal aid.
Title IX has been interpreted as demanding that institu-
(Continued on page 8)
New MediCenter Has St. Joseph's Spirit
BY MSGR. NOEL C.
BURTENSHAW
Just over a hundred
years ago, St. Joseph’s
Hospital began its mercy
mission in downtown
Atlanta in a simple little
clinic. The giant modern
cardiac center in north
Atlanta is no longer a
simple, outpatient clinic
but it has a new extension
that is a reminder of that
century old humble
beginning.
About five miles east of
the present hospital, St.
Joseph’s has opened
MediCenter, a neigh
borhood medical center
that gives walk-in pa
tients hospital-quality
medical treatment.
“MediCenter,” says
Emergency Unit Man
ager Becky Bosselman,
“is for non-life threaten
ing ailments. If we get
anyone who comes to the
center needing more than
we can give, we send
them to St. Joseph’s or
whatever hospital they
request.”
This new outreach of
the venerable St.
Joseph’s can give a lot.
Mostly what it wants to
give is service and quick
service at that. “We stay
open with two shifts,”
says assistant head nurse
Betsy Spradling, “every
single day of the year in
cluding holidays from 8
a.m. to 11 p.m. Within
those hours, no appoint
ment is needed and each
patient is seen within 15
minutes.”
When Betsy says
“seen” she means by a
physician, if necessary.
At all hours of the day a
doctor is present to see all
patients.
“The service we have
begun to offer,” says
Nurse Spradling, “is
greatly appreciated in
this area of Chamblee.
We have lots of young
families, lots of working
parents and plenty of in
dustry which often needs
attention for on-the-job
accidents.”
As we viewed the little
center one afternoon, a
constant stream came to
the waiting room and one
young man had a splint
wrapped on his leg after
falling from a roof.
St. Joseph’s Hospital
acquired MediCenter in
August last year. Since
that time the hospital has
been staffing and prepar
ing the clinic as a fulltime
outpatient treatment
facility that will be
available to the com
munity at hours conve
nient to them and at a
minimum charge.
“Our base charge,”
says Nurse Bosselman,
“is $25 which includes the
physician’s fee. The full
charge may be more
because of tests or
whatever, but for the
most part we charge less
than a doctor’s office
call.”
Looking over their
records, the clinic staff
points out that most of the
(Continued on page 8)
NURSE KAREN MOODY assists a young
man who had sprained his leg during his
work hours. The center is always ready for
these emergencies.