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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 1990)
* Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta Vol. 28 No. 13 Thursday, March 29, 1990 $15.00 Per Year Marchers Recall Romero's Words BY INES PINTO ALICEA WASHINGTON (CNS) — The spirit of slain Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar A. Romero should be kept alive to help bring peace and justice to the Central American country, said the rector of the Central American University in Managua, Nicaragua. “Romero is alive in the hearts of the Salvadoran people and in the hearts of outstanding people here in the United States,” said Jesuit Father Cesar Jerez. “We must go on. Maintain solidarity. If you feel tired here in Washington, you can imagine how we feel down there.” Father Jerez made his remarks at an ecumenical wor ship service commemorating the 10th anniversary of Arch bishop Romero's death. More then 300 people attended the service in Washington. Among those attending were Bishop Walter F. Sullivan of Richmond, Va.; Mercy Sister Helen Marie Burns, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious; Tho mas Quigley, U.S. Catholic Conference adviser on Latin American affairs; Rabbi Carol Glass of the B’nai B’rith i Continued on page 111 Papal Prayers For Lithuania VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope John Paul II called for a “just and peaceful solution” to tensions in the Soviet Union following Lithuania’s vote to secede. “Today Lithuania finds itself at the center of the in terest of Europe and the world,” the pope said March 25 during his noon Angelus talk. ‘We pray to Divine Providence that the Lithuanian question will find a just and peaceful solution with a sincere dialogue and in the framework of interna tional order,” the pope said. Pope John Paul told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square that the Lithuanian chapel in the grot to of St. Peter’s Basilica is a “sign of the centuries- long bond of the church and Lithuanian nation with the Apostolic See.” The Vatican has never recognized the 1940 Soviet annexation of Lithuania. The pope prayed that God would give “light and strength to all those on whom the resolution of this situation depends.” SNOWY MARCH — Atlantans, including Father Joseph Fahy, CP, right, and Father John Sweeney, SJ, were among 10,000 who went to Washington March 24 to mark the 10th Nun Honored For Work anniversary of the killing of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador. The marchers met a snowstorm but continued their activities to pro test U.S. military aid. (Photo by Ann Pitra) Achor: Hope To Homeless Women BY RITA McINERNEY “The children don’t know they’re homeless,” Sister Marie Sullivan says quiet ly- She’s referring to babies, toddlers and school-age children who live at Achor Center, a transitional home for homeless mothers and single women located at the United Baptist Church on Stewart Avenue in southwest Atlanta. Achor, symbolizing gate way, is proving to be a Flood Relief for North Georgia page 3 Sistine Chapel restoration gives new view of Michelangelo page 5 INSIDE Marian Meadows is new youth retreat center page 7 Idaho Potatoes may be boycotted page 12 way up for those living there. Its purpose, as con ceived by Sister Marie, a Dominican sister of Sin- sinawa, Wis., is new life for women battered by spouses, boyfriends, addic tion or society. How did Achor come about? “Basically I had worked three or four years with women in shelters and knew we were not doing anything. I knew some women could move on, with a little help,” Sister Marie says. Her idea was to open a 24-hour center. The women chosen for Achor’s program of hous ing and training can stay up to nine months while they prepare themselves for, and save toward, a home and life away from the bleak despair of the streets and shelters. Achor provides the bless ing of privacy. Rooms with beds, chests and windows, and best of all, a door to close. Such welcome com- Sister Marie Sullivan, OP fort after cots, plastic bags bulging with shabby posses sions in crowded shelters improvised in church halls and gyms. For mothers there is on site day care for babies and toddlers. They can go off to low-paying jobs or classes without first the tiring bus ride to the children’s day shelter. Now they have peace of mind knowing the small ones are well cared for in Achor’s state-li censed day care center. The security of a schedule, regular times for feeding, playing in the sun shine, afternoon naps, energizes homeless child ren like multiple vitamins. And while they don’t run and swing in kiddie couture jeans and jackets, neither are they sad-eyed waifs in rags. Achor offers school-age boys and girls a fair chance to learn, a unique oppor tunity for children who often must switch schools as they move with their mothers from shelter to shelter. “Because somebody took an interest,” Sister Marie says, children have been able to advance from the bottom of the class to the upper ranks. “Somebody” is often a college student who comes in two days a week to tutor after talking with the child’s teacher to (Continued on page 6)
