The Bulletin’s year-end wrap-up really does not tell the complete story of what took place in the archdiocese during the year. At best, it can only highlight what we think were important events during the year. -- THE EDITORS

January

St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Smryna has acquired land to begin construction. The parish, pastored by Father Richard Morrow, serves Catholics in South Cobb County.

Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan said “incredible abuses” in the liturgy noted by the Congregation on Rites in Rome were not part of the “custom of this archdiocese.”

Father Joseph Bistany, a native of Lebanon, was named administrator of St. Joseph Maronite Church in Atlanta.

Leo Josef Cardinal Suenens, primate of Belgium, said in talks at Emory University and at the Cathedral Center that the Church must develop a missionary mentality.

In other talks to Ministers’ Week at the school, Archbishop Hallinan said a place is being readied for the new “liturgical man” in the Church and Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin said the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Religious Freedom has put the Church in step with the aspirations of contemporary man.

Parishes voted Jan. 29 to nominate persons to serve on two councils and five archdiocesan boards established by the Synod.

February

Msgr. Michael Manning was invested as a domestic prelate by Archbishop Hallinan. He served as president of the Synod.

Nine nuns in the archdiocese were elected to outline the role of a Sister’s Senate. Bishop Francis Zayek, first Maronite Apostolic Exarch in the United States, visited Atlanta Feb. 18-19.

More than 500 persons attended the dedication of the modern Spalding Chapel and Newman Center at the University of Georgia. The facilities were called a symbol of the renewed Church which goes to the students and does not wait for them to come to it.

Fifty-nine laymen, seven priests and seven nuns were named to serve on archdiocesan boards. The chairmen are James W. Callison, Pastoral Council; Rawson Haverty, Administrative Council; Samuel McQuaid, Board of Education; John A. Ferguson, Board of Social Services; Andrew E. McColgan, Board of Development; John J. Cawley, Board of Lay Organizations; Paul Shields, Board of Communications.

The Senate of Priests raised the salaries of pastors and assistants and began work on a constitution. Father Walter J. Donovan, president, said the salary increases were recommended by the Lay Congress.

March

Archbishop Hallinan told federal officials that St. Joseph’s infirmary was “honestly integrated” after reports said the U.S. Public Health Service would investigate the hospital to determine if federal funds should be cut off.

The archbishop and Catholic laymen also testified against a medical treatment “consent bill” which could open the door to sterilization and abortion.

It was announced that Immaculate Conception School would be sold and razed to make way for the Georgia Plaza Plan development in downtown Atlanta.

Louis Erbs was named chairman of the Archdiocesan Liturgy Commission and Father Henry C. Gracz as priest-secretary. The archbishop also announced that funerals according to the new form were to be conducted and said a new series of Biblical readings for weekday Masses had been approved.

Catholic elementary schools in Athens and Griffin announced they would drop the seventh and eighth grades at the end of the school year.

The Board of Education announced that Drexel High School which had 156 Negro pupils would be closed in June. The board delayed its decision for further study and then a joint announcement from the board and archbishop reaffirmed the decision to close the school.

Ferdinand Buckley was appointed chairman of the Archdiocesan Religious Unity Commission and Father Matthew Kemp as priest-secretary. Nineteen nuns were elected to the Sister’s Senate.

April

Bishop Justin A. Najmy, Apostolic Exarch for Melkites in the United States, visited Atlanta in his first official visit since he became leader of the more than 100,000 Melkites in the U.S.

In a major announcement, an archdiocesan office was created, two new pastors were appointed, a new parish was established and Father Paul Kelley was named principal at St. Joseph High School. Father Daniel J. O’Connor became pastor of St. Philip Benizi in Jonesboro, Father Alan Dillman was named pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes and Father Dennis Dullea became pastor of St. Joseph’s at Dalton.

Father Michael A. Morris was appointed director of the new Office of Religious Education to coordinate efforts of school of religion.

Msgr. Joseph E. Moylan, who had served the Church in Georgia as priest pastor, chancellor and vicar general for nearly 50 years, died at age 78. Msgr. Moylan was pastor of Cathedral of Christ the King when it was built. Father John D. Stapleton, pastor of St. Jude’s, was appointed chairman of the Msgr. Moylan Memorial Fund to provide for education of priests.

Father William F. Haddad, pastor of St. John’s Melkite Church, was given the title archinamandrite (monsignor) by Bishop Najmy during his visit here.

Bishop Bernardin celebrated his first anniversary as a bishop. In a speech at Tampa, FL, he said liturgical renewal has not really taken effect in the Church because there is no bond of unity, heart and will.

Louis C. Fink of Atlanta, National Holy Name Society lay consultant, was appointed to the American delegation to the International Congress of the Lay Apostolate.

May

Anthony T. Curran was ordained a priest and named as assistant pastor of St. Thomas More. Dr. Joseph Wilber, a member of Holy Spirit parish, was named to receive a brotherhood medal from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Atlanta Chapter, for his service in the field of inter-group relations.

Archbishop Hallinan announced that he was not linked with an anti-war drive which called for massive opposition to the war in Vietnam. The archbishop also suggested in a talk to an Atlanta meeting that the Society for the Propagation of the Faith change its name to “one more theologically and biblically accurate.” Father John J. Cotter, principal of St. Pius X High School, was appointed director for secondary education.

June

A public reception honored Sister Mary Josephine, O.P., one of the nuns who helped open Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cancer Home, before her transfer. Sister Marie Cordis, O.P., was named the new superior.

Father William E. Calhoun, a teacher at St. Joseph High School, left Atlanta to become an Air Force Chaplain.

Members of the Atlanta Jewish community praised Archbishop Hallinan who called for the United States to preserve the sovereignty of Israel when war erupted in the Middle East.

It was announced that five priests from Ireland would be ordained and serve in the archdiocese. They are Fathers Edward J. Dillon, Peter Ludden, John Kieran, Leo Herbert and Paul Fogarty.

Members of Holy Spirit parish and St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church are sharing the new Holy Spirit parish center.

The General Administration of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart announced they would close D’Youville Academy in June 1969.

Father Bernard Haring, C.S.S.R., a prominent theologian, said in an interview with the Georgia Bulletin that the Church will suffer a great loss in membership if “unreasonably conservative men continue to stifle thought created by the Second Vatican Council.” Father Haring spoke to priests and laity during his visit.

Father William Hoffman, principal at Drexel, was appointed full-time chaplain at Emory University. Father Constantin A. Chauve, S.M., marked his 65th year as a priest.

Archbishop Hallinan and Bishop Bernardin said in a joint pastoral in observance of the “Year of Faith” that faith is a personal encounter with Christ, an ongoing experience, a lived response.

Father Conald Foust was named administrator of the Community of Christ Our Brother, a non-territorial community, in a one-year experiment.

July

Children moved into the new Village of St. Joseph on Butner Road, leaving behind a 35-year-old building in Washington, Ga.

Archbishop Hallinan supported the restoration of the permanent diaconate in missionary areas of the United States. He said the deacons could be put to good use in areas of the archdiocese where there are a small number of priests.

Msgr. Patrick J. O’Connor, pastor of St. Thomas More, announced that he would retire Aug. 15 after 34 years of service as priest, pastor, professor and administrator. Msgr. O’Connor was instrumental in obtaining many vocations to the priesthood for the Church in Georgia.

August

Archbisop Hallinan said at the installation of Bishop Gerard E. Frey of Savannah that “the new form of the Catholic Church is not an invention, it is a correction.” He said the pyramid concept of the Church will not do.

The Holy Cross parish center was blessed by Bishop Bernardin.

Five pastors were given new assignments. Msgr. Michael Manning was named pastor of St. Thomas More; Father John J. Mulroy, pastor at Sacred Heart; Father Joseph Ware, pastor at Sts. Peter and Paul; Father M. Jariath Burke, pastor at St. Joseph’s Athens; Father J. Douglas Edwards, pastor at the Church of Our Lady of Carrollton.

Archbishop Hallinan again supported “Negotiation Now,” which calls for the United States to halt the bombing of North Vietnam and to take further initiatives to bring about negotiations. The campaign does not call for U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam.

September

Dean William Cannon of Emory, Father Donald Martin, S.J., and Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum discussed “Who Are the People of God?” at a symposium sponsored by Catholics and Jews.

Father John L. Hein, S.J., director of Ignatius House, said the retreat house would be temporarily closed while he took a sabbatical.

The Archdiocese of Atlanta released its first budget in history. It totaled $1,042,095.

Members of the Parish Council of St. Luke’s Dahlonega, disagreed with Archbishop Hallinan’s stand on the war in Vietnam.

Archbishop Leo Byrne of Minneapolis-St. Paul said at the dedication of the Village of St. Joseph that the village reflects the new spirit in child care and the Church.

Catholics and Jews announced they were studying archdiocesan school texts for expressions that could lead to anti-Semitism. The study is being continued.

Archbishop Hallinan, chairman of the Bishops Committee on the Liturgy, announced that the new English canon would begin in the United States Oct. 22.

October

Bishop Bernardin made a special appeal to pastors to take up a special collection to help the St. Vincent de Paul Society in its work with the poor. The collection netted $11,987.

The new building of St. Philip Benizi parish, Jonesboro, was dedicated by Archbishop Hallinan.

In a pastoral letter, Archbishop Hallinan and Bishop Bernardin called upon Catholics to work to eliminate poverty.

Archbishop Hallinan said the new English canon would unite priests and people. He said, “It is only the parish priest who can provide the kindness and understanding necessary to explain and encourage participation by the whole community.”

November

Lutherans and Catholics held a joint service at the Cathedral of Christ the King on the 450th anniversary of the Reformation. The speaker, Rev. J. Benjamin Bedenbaugh of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary said, “What we worship is not the things that divide us, but God.”

The Senate of Priests approved its first constitution as a guide in assisting the bishops in the government of the archdiocese.

Father Henry Phillips, 82, a former chaplain at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, was buried from St. Anthony’s Church. Father Phillips had retired in 1955.

December

George Rowe, a native of Atlanta, was ordained as a Marist priest at Our Lady of Assumption.

Members of St. Joseph’s Church, Athens, found out what good neighbors members of the First Christina Church are. The congregation offered their building when it was discovered the roof of the Catholic church was about to collapse.

Father Philip Dagneau, S.M., celebrated his 60th anniversary as a priest.

The Senate of Priests elected two new members -- Father M. Hariath Burke and Father John McDonough.

In a page one editorial in the Bulletin, Archbishop Hallinan opposed efforts to liberalize laws governing abortions in Georgia.