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PAGE 10 — The Georgia Bulletin, October 22,1987
ARCHBISHOP DONNELLAN received the wool, marked with six crosses, worn about the
Pallium from Pope Paul VI in a ceremony in neck. It symbolizes the fullness of the episcopal
April, 1969, in the Chapel of Saint Mathilde at office and is restricted to the use of the pope and
the Vatican. The vestment is a band of white archbishops.
Priests Reflect On A Servant Bishop
Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan gave total dedication to
serving the people of the archdiocese, ever faithful to the
motto, “To Serve, Not To Be Served,” which graced his
coat of arms. This unstinting service was viewed by many
priests of the archdiocese as an example of his pastoral
care.
Glenmary Father Robert Poandl, pastor of St. Francis of
Assisi in Blairsville, developed a “great affection” for the
archbishop and “felt supported, cared for, and loved by
him” in return since coming to the archdiocese.
The priest said he had been involved with parish renewal
before arriving in the north Georgia mountains and brought
with him the awareness that his relationships with bishops
had become “horrendous over the years.” Because of this
he made an appointment with the archbishop “to ask him to
forgive me” for this state of mind.
While the priest and the archbishop had some problems,
Father Poandl said, “We could always talk about the prob
lem. It always came down to the people being more impor
tant.”
“He just glowed among people,” the priest said of the
many times the archbishop came to the mountain church
and missions served by the Glenmary priest.
The archbishop’s willingness to visit the missions for Con
firmations, no matter how few childen were involved, was
well known. “He told me that he liked to come, he looked for
excuses to come,” Father Poandl said. One year in the ear
ly 1980s he came to the Blairsville parish to confirm one
child.
Also noting his personal kindness Father Poandl recalled
that when his rectory burned to the ground in a lightning
storm he received a call the next day from the archbishop
expressing concern. “He said, ‘I’ll put something in the
mail to you,’ and he sent me $250 from his personal check
ing account,” Father Poandl said. “You don’t forget things
like that soon.”
Archbishop Donnellan’s “ability to hang in there when
the going was rough,” was admired by Father William Hoff
man, pastor of St. Jude parish in Sandy Springs. Alluding
to the departure of priests, Father Hoffman said “He pro
vided a lot of stability for the local Catholic church. His con
fidence in the church’s ability to weather storms and come
out victorious is something I learned from him.”
Father Hoffman recalled the archbishop’s generosity at
the time he asked for leave to serve in South America. He
made his request, the only one received, after the arch
bishop announced at a clergy meeting in January, 1971, that
the Holy Father had appealed to local bishops to share their
priests with the church in Central and South America.
With his approval the archbishop attached three condi
tions, Father Hoffman recalled: that he would keep his
seniority in the archdiocese; that if he “was not happy
down there, come on back. You’re worth more back here as
a happy priest than being a disgruntled priest down there
for five years;” and that “I’ll offer you the first pastorate
that becomes available after your return.”
Father Hoffman worked with the Missionary Society of
St. James in Peru for 10 years in the 1970s and then returned
to Atlanta in 1982.
Father Richard Kieran, administrator at the Cathedral of
Christ the King, said he will always “be grateful for these
years, for the chance to work closely with him. I learned a
great deal about pastoral sensitivity and caring. I’ll miss
him.”
The archbishop’s pastoral qualities were outstanding,
Father Thomas Carroll, M.S., pastor of St. Ann in Marietta,
said. “He was a very pastoral man, always willing to go
anywhere, at any time. He always extended himself to the
people. He loved to be with people, and how he loved
children.”
“He was always willing to be there if you wanted to come
in and talk with him,” Father Carroll added. “He was
always willing to advise. He was most gracious.”
His “brutal” Confirmation schedule was testimony to how
“big he was on pastoral life,” according to Father Edward
O’Connor, pastor of St. Theresa Church in Douglasville.
This placed him “where he was at home - with the people,
especially the children.” Father O’Connor found a mutual
link in the archbishop’s fondness for his Irish heritage, en
joyed his sense of humor and admired him for his modest
life style.
“He was really a man’s man” in his approach to prob
lems and tough situations, said Monsignor Donald Kiernan,
pastor of All Saints in Dunwoody. While the archbishop's
approach might be strong, “there was no double talk with
him. You could believe everything he said.”
A holder of firm opinions himself, “he respected people
who held their opinions firmly,” said Father Henry Gracz,
pastor of Transfiguration parish. “He loved a good verbal
repartee,” Father Gracz observed, a quality which served
him well in the heated public and media reaction to the
bishops’ pastoral on the economy.
Normally reticent in the public eye, he picked up the
challenge of jousting over the pastoral on radio and televi
sion, showing himself to be adept at fielding questions on
live call-in shows and at responding to interviewers hostile
to the contents of the pastoral or dubious about the ap
propriateness of bishops discussing matters of business and
politics.
“I lived at close quarters with the archbishop for five
years and in that time I came to know him as a man who
was totally committed to his responsibility as a bishop both
in his diocese and as a member of the Conference of
Bishops,” said Father Peter Ludden, chancellor of the
archdiocese.
“He rarely cancelled a function, event, or meeting which
he regarded as the fulfillment of his pastoral role or which
he had simply agreed to attend. This keen sense of personal
responsibility made him reluctant to send someone in his
place even when his schedule was overloaded. Every
An Old Friend
Remembers Him
Father Edward Hennessey knew the more relaxed, social
side of Archbishop Donnellan better than anyone else ex
cept for Nancy Donnellan. The two priests were close
friends and good companions since the winter of 1941 when
they met at a ski resort in the Adirondacks in New York
state.
It happened that each was with a group of priests enjoy
ing a holiday at the same inn. The groups joined up to ski
together. They enjoyed their fellowship so much that they
decided to meet again the following winter. These winter
ski vacations continued for more than 10 years, Father Hen
nessey said. When the priests became more adept on skis,
they moved up to the more demanding Laurentians in
Canada. The archbishop, his friend said, became a compe
tent skier.
About four of the priests had planned their annual ski
vacation in 1954 but at the last minute, Father Donnellan
learned he would not be joining them. In fact they were
waiting for him in the car outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral
after Sunday High Mass when he came out without his suit
case. It turned out he had just learned, about five minutes
before, from Cardinal Spellman that he would be starting
as his secretary the very next morning.
For the next several years he would be taking his vaca
tion only when the cardinal decided to take his. The
carefree days of being assistant pastor at the cathedral
were over.
Father Hennessey, who said the two priests were ordain
ed “almost at the same moment," one in New York City,
the other in New Jersey, said they began meeting for din
ner, playing golf, taking vacations together whenever
possible. Father Hennessey was a parish priest and later a
hospital chaplain in Jersey City.
He cared a great deal about friendship. “I don’t think he
ever lost a friend. Once you were his friend, he tried to keep
in touch. He was very kind to anybody that was hurt by
teasing or being caught off base. He would always side with
those being badgered,” Father Hennessey said.
Through the years of their “long standing and very
fruitful” friendship, Father Hennessey said, he found his
friend a “very bright man” and “strong willed” who could
not be swayed if he knew he was right. But he always re
mained “very unimpressed with himself. He was very im
pressed with the dignity of the church and the office he held.
He tried hard to live up to dignity of the bishopric.”
When he wasn’t performing his duties, he was most relax
ed and easy going. No matter how bad the day had been, it
never carried over for dinner. “He loved to sit around and
tell humorous stories.”
His great love for his parents and his sister were obvious
to all who knew him. He easily acknowledged his great debt
to his parents, for their staunch faith and their
unselfishness. Their son admitted that he never had to
sacrifice during the Depression years because his parents
were so willing to sacrifice for him, his old friend recalled.
-Mclnerney
TO SERVE, not to be served is the English
translation for the motto beneath the coat of
arms of Archbishop Thomas Donnellan.
aspect of church life and ministry was of deep concern to
him,” Father Ludden said.
“But his greatest care and concern was for his priests. He
was not a man to easily show his feelings but whenever I
saw him grieve it was always for one or other of his fellow
priests. I cannot think of anyone more deserving to hear the
Lord say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ ”