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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (June 2, 1988)
The Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta Vol. 26 No. 22 Thursday. June 2. 1988 $12.00 Per Year JUMPING FOR JOY — St. Thomas More students, who found out recently theirs is a School of Excellence, were full of high spirits during a field day May 26. Pictured from left to right are Renee Edeline, Leila Benoit, Wendy Hamstra, Laura Guerin and Gayle Goetz. St. Thomas More Cited For "Excellence" BY GRETCHEN REISER When St. Thomas More Catholic School in Decatur was chosen a national “School of Excellence” May 17, some saw the honor as being a victory not only for the school, but for all the underdogs battling long odds around the country. The school of 297 children in kindergarten through eighth grade was the only non-public Georgia elemen tary school to be chosen for the honor this year, and one of only seven schools in Georgia named. Around the nation 287 “Schools of Excellence” were named by the U.S. Department of Education. For St. Thomas More, the award was “so needed and overdue,” said Ann Dugan, a computer and special education teacher whose four grown children attended St. Thomas More during their elementary education years. If schools in other parts of the country could grasp the significance, Mrs. Dugan said, the award “will give a real boost to the little people, to the little schools that would never even think of applying." The physical plant of the school, with classrooms in three separate buildings, including over the church sanctuary, is less than ideal. There’s a need for some grades to expand but not the room. In a time of modern and regional schools, St. Thomas More has a quality reminiscent of older G'atholic schools, with children in and out of the church building, the adjacent convent, which also houses classrooms, and an annex, and play- V ing basketball and jump rope on the large asphalt park ing lot behind the church. But visitors who came in April to tour the school for two days didn’t see those aspects of St. Thomas More. They were struck, according to the principal, Sister Margaret Mary McKeon, S.N.D., by the dedication of the faculty, the behavior of the children, the quality of the curriculum, and the strong community spirit linking parents, teachers, the principal and the pastor. “A principal knows that she has a good school,” Sister Margaret Mary said. “I have a faculty that I prize. I have parents who are very cooperative.” The visiting team was “very impressed with our parents,” she said, 30 of whom took time out on working days to come to the school and be interviewed by the team. Father Patrick Mulhern, pastor, has been very supportive of the school and his visible enthusiasm has affected the parish, she said. “He’s doing a fabulous job. I appreciate everything he does.” “I’m just elated about the award,” said the principal, who has been in charge of St. Thomas More for the last 11 years, and who taught the first grade at St. Thomas More for six years in the 1950s. Father Mulhern, aided by parents and children, draped a banner above the church doorway May 20: “Thank you God, for our teachers, sisters and school — School of Excellence ’88.” He attributed the school’s excellence to a quality within the teaching staff communicated to the children. (Continued on page 10) Priest Ordained For Archdiocese BY PAULA DAY Godfrey Philip Ryan, a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, was ordained May 12 for service in the archdiocese of Atlanta. Bishop Laurence Forristal, D.D., of Ossory, Ireland, of ficiated at the ordination in St. Mary’s Cathedral in Kilken ny- Visitors for the ordination from the Atlanta archdiocese included Father Paul Reynolds, pastor of St. John Neumann parish in Lilburn, and Bette and Robert Lind. Mrs. Lind is director of religious education for the Lilburn parish. Father Ryan was born May 26, 1950, in Kilkenny. His mother, Mrs. Patricia Ryan, resides there. His father is deceased. An older brother, John, and a younger sister, Angie, were lectors at the ordination Mass. He also has a younger brother, Patrick. Deacon Brendan Doyle, who is studying for the Atlanta archdiocese, also participated in the ordination ceremonies. Prior to entering St. John’s College in Waterford, Ireland, as a seminarian, Father Ryan was employed in hotel management in England and on the west coast of Ireland. As a seminarian and deacon, he spent two summers in the archdiocese. In 1985 he worked two and a half months in Christ Our (Continued on page 10) 25 New Cardinals Show Universality BY JOHN THAVIS VATICAN CITY (NC) — Pope John Paul II has named 25 new cardinals from 18 countries, including U.S. Arch bishops James A. Hickey of Washington and Edmund C. Szoka of Detroit. The pope, announcing the selections May 29 at the Vatican, said the new cardinals-designate were “generous and worthy servants” of the Holy See whose choice underlined the church’s universality. He set June 28 as the date for a consistory, when they will formally be installed, raising the College of Cardinals to a record 162 members. The nominees include bishops from Lithuania, Hong Kong, Hungary and Mozambique, as well as four current of ficials of the Roman Curia. The pope chose one non-bishop, (Continued on page 14) Summer Schedule With this issue, The Georgia Bulletin begins its summer publication schedule. During the summer the newspaper is not printed the second and last weeks of the month. Issues will appear June 16 and June 23, July 7 and July 21 and August 4 and August 18. Weekly publication resumes September 1. Have a joyful and blessed summer!
