The
Vol. 25 No. 28
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Thursday, August 6, 1987 $12.00 Per Year
27 Christian Leaders
To Meet Pope In S.C.
BY BARB FRAZE
ECUMENICAL PROJECT — Georgia
Phillips shepherds a morning for children twice
a week at Sacred Heart parish in Hartwell
wmcn draws upon the resources ot various
churches and volunteers to help over 40 two-to-
five-years-olds from the surrounding area.
Children Welcome At Hartwell Parish
J.J. Biello
Concern Lifts Up Policeman's Family
hay bales to climb and a miniature chapel to hide in.
There's even a friendly dog on the scene, a white German
shepherd that answers to “Simon.”
Two mornings a week, Monday and Thursday, the green
space behind Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Hartwell is
alive with children. This is Children’s Morning, an
ecumenical program begun about four years ago by
Georgia Phillips at the First Baptist Church. It happened
when she agreed to look after two young children whose
mothers were.attending a parenting class at that church.
As the program grew, “Miss Georgia,” as the children
fondly call her, discovered that she wanted to give
youngsters from low- income families an opportunity to in
teract through play and other activities with other children,
and introduce them to activities to develop character and
skills. For her it’s a program of love, based on the words of
Jesus in St. Mark’s Gospel: “Let the little children come to
me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the
kingdom of God belongs.”
“So many of these children don’t have a day of fun and
laughter,” she says while skillfully wheeling the van pro
vided by First Baptist Church around the roads in the Rome
section of town. Waiting children hop into the bus as
mothers or grandmothers wave them off. Each child is
warmly greeted by name. Twin boys usually joining the
Thursday group won’t be coming this morning. Their
grandfather is being buried that day. But “Miss Georgia”
swings by anyway, to express her condolences to the fami
ly-
The van loaded with 19 small children and two older
children who are helping this morning arrives back at the
church around 9:30. Its lively passengers spill out and run
to the sturdy play gym, a maze of parallel bars, slide, lad
der and chinning bars built by Terry Phillips, Georgia’s
husband.
She calls them to assemble around the tall flagpole in
(Continued on page 6)
BY PAULA DAY
Barbara Biello is slow
ly rebuilding a family
life after a robber’s
bullets last April left her
husband, an Atlanta
police officer, paralyzed.
With faith and courage
she is doing it, supported
by caring people — from
her parish and other
churches, and the metro
Atlanta community.
Mrs. Biello, her hus
band J.J. Biello, and their
two sons, Alex, 11, and
Ross, 8, are members
of St. Catherine of Siena
Church in Kennesaw.
A July 19 benefit held in
Piedmont Park in Atlanta
that drew crowds
estimated at 35,000 is one
example of the support
she has received. Dona
tions from the benefit for
her husband and another
paralyzed Atlanta officer,
Richard Williams, are in
excess of $275,000, ac
cording to John Bogino,
one of the organizers.
The 36-year-old Biello
was shot three times by a
robber April 15 as he
worked an off-duty job as
security guard at Pro-
vino’s Restaurant on
Roswell Road. The high
cervical injury left him
paralyzed from the neck
down. Surgical damage to
his vocal chords left him
able to speak only in a
whisper.
Barbara Biello admits
she prayed that the Pied-
“I want to tell them - Barbara Biello
BY RITA McINERNEY
There’s a wide lawn for running, an intricate play gym
for sliding and swinging. There are wild flowers to gather.
mont Park benefit would
be a success. She
recognized that the people
who were working on it
were “unsung heroes.”
“You know, God,” she
recalls praying, “these
people have worked so
hard. Don’t let their good
work be for nothing. Let it
be a success for them.
Show them what they can
do so they can feel good
about their effort.”
This concern for and ap-
preciation of the un
numbered and unrecog
nized persons who have
given moral and mate
rial support to the family
permeates Barbara Biel-
lo’s conversation.
>
<
Q
encourage them — those
who say to themselves,
‘Gee, that (the paralyzed
officers' condition) really
makes me feel bad — I
wish I could help but I
(Continued on page 8)
WASHINGTON (NC) — Twenty-seven Christian leaders
— including two women — will meet with Pope John Paul II
when he travels to Columbia, S.C., Sept. 11.
Among the leaders will be Archbishop Iakovos, head of
the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South
America; the Rev. Arie R. Brouwer, a minister of the
(Dutch) Reformed Church in America and general
secretary of the National Council of Churches; two Or
thodox metropolitans; and bishops of four Lutheran
denominations.
The National Conference of Catholic Bishops announced
the names of the leaders July 28 in Washington and
Charleston, S.C. Columbia is in the Charleston Diocese.
(Continued on page 10)
Archbishop's Care >
z
3S
Although released from intensive care. Archbishop §
Thomas Donneilan continued to be hospitalized this g
week and in fair condition.
St. Joseph’s Hospital spokeswoman Nancy Wood
said the archbishop's attending physician described
his progress as slow, but that a urinary tract infection
that led to his hospitalization had been brought under
control. Except for one week at home in July, the
archbishop has been hospitalized since early May
when he suffered a stroke.
Concern for the archbishop was expressed by Pope
John Paul II during a brief private audience in early
July, according to an Atlanta attorney Roger Plichta.
The pope expressed concern and extended a blessing
to the archbishop, Plichta said.
