By Staff Writer

Vocation Month normally stresses the contribution of diocesan priests, but many other Religious make up the modern diocese.

Last week we mentioned that there were some 36 secular priests working in parishes and in special work in Atlanta and the 70 other northern counties of Georgia. Of this number, less than 30 are actually confined to parochial work.

What is not generally understood is that there are some 87 Order priests serving the Archdiocese of Atlanta from nine religious groups. There are three Jesuits, two Glenmary Fathers, 19 Marist Fathers, six Franciscan Fathers, five Passionists, one priest from the African Mission Society, five Verona Fathers, eight Redemptorists, and 38 Trappist Monks.

The Franciscan Fathers staff Immaculate Conception parish, Atlanta, and are engaged in the Newman Apostolate at the secular universities in the Atlanta area. One of the Franciscans is also chaplain at the federal penitentiary.

The Jesuit Fathers staff Ignatius House, a retreat center in Atlanta.

The Marist Fathers staff Sacred Heart Church, Atlanta, and St. Joseph’s, Marietta. They also provide the teachers for Atlanta’s Marist College.

The Passionist Fathers staff St. Paul of the Cross Church and Drexel High in Atlanta.

The African Mission Society staffs Our Lady of Lourdes in Atlanta.

The Glenmary Fathers serve St. Luke’s Church, Dahlonega, and the North Georgia State Newman Club.

The Verona Fathers—sons of the Sacred Heart—serve St. Joseph’s Church in Washington and Mother of Our Divine Savior in Toccoa.

The Redemptorists staff Sacred Heart, Griffin, St. Joseph’s, Dalton, and St. Gerard Magella, Fort Oglethorpe.

The Trappist Monks are basically in a closed Community, but do serve at several missions which have public Masses.

All these orders serve the Archdiocese of Atlanta in a very real way. In mission areas, such as this, the generosity of the religious orders in providing priests, sisters, and brothers, to assist in the work of the church has enabled growth to be nourished and stability established.

Commenting on the contribution made by Religious orders of priests to the archdiocese, Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan said: “It is remarkable that so many of the religious communities working in our archdiocese are in fields so close to the intentions of their founders. One would expect that of the cloistered Trappists at Conyers. But when you think of the Marists teaching for so many years in Atlanta; the Franciscans engaged in the university work here just as in the high Middle Ages; the Redmeptorists covering miles of missionary territory in the footsteps of their latest saint, Blessed John Nepomucene Neumann; and the Jesuits providing the spiritual exercise of Saint Ignatius Loyola at the Retreat House - you realize that is the logical place for the inspiration and dreams of these great men to come true. Building a bridge between white and Negro Christians, just as many of their earlier fathers did, are the Passionist Fathers and the Society of African Missioners. The Verona Fathers, who come from northern Italy, find northern Georgia a fertile young Glenmary community at Dahlonega is a welcome extension southward of the American home mission impetus first felt in the Ohio River Valley.

“In addition, two of our downtown parishes are in the care of the Marists and Franciscans where so many of the problems of urbanization find their solution in the compassionate welfare of these two great orders.

“In all, the religious orders working side by side with generations of diocesan priests have added a rich Catholic diversity to the Church. We are grateful for their zeal, and pray that they will share fully in the religious vocations that God is planting in the spiritual red clay of young lives.”

Next week The Georgia Bulletin will relate the contribution made to the archdiocese by the various congregations of sisters.