Georgia Bulletin

Atlanta

• New nonprofit to deliver hope to Puerto Ricans in hurricane recovery

  

  By ANDREW NELSON, Staff Writer
  Published August 23, 2018

  ATLANTA—A new ministry aims to knit closer ties between Catholics in Atlanta and those in Puerto Rico as the first anniversary of Hurricane Maria approaches. The island continues rebuilding after the Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds made landfall on Sept. 20, 2017. It took nearly 11 months for electricity to be restored to […] Full Story | En Español

• Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory’s statement in response to the resignation of Theodore McCarrick

  

  Published August 9, 2018

  ATLANTA— “As shepherd of the Catholic Church in Atlanta and united with my brother bishops under Pope Francis in service to Jesus Christ and His Church, I express my profound anger, sadness, and distress concerning sexual abuse by Church leaders of children, young people and those over whom they exercised authority. My anger and disappointment, […] Full Story | En Español

• Atlanta delegates prepare for national Encuentro

  

  By ANDREW NELSON, Staff Writer
  Published August 3, 2018

  ATLANTA—Some two dozen women and men will represent the Archdiocese of Atlanta at the National Fifth Encuentro, as Hispanic Catholics gather to strengthen the Latino presence in the church. Drawing together believers from around the country, V Encuentro (Spanish for meeting) maintains an effort begun more than 40 years ago “to continue our walk as […] Full Story | En Español

• Muralists enliven their Catholic faith in public with vivid street art

  

  By ANDREW NELSON, Staff Writer
  Published August 3, 2018

  ATLANTA—Three months ago, Kathleen Loesel and Alison Mabery used their free hours to stand on a sidewalk with paintbrushes in hand, creating images in color on the concrete wall as trucks and cars hurtled past. Drivers and walkers stopped at the impromptu studio near the Krog Street tunnel as the artists painted the mural of […] Full Story

• Catholic schools welcome new administrators as academic year begins

  By NICHOLE GOLDEN, Staff Writer
  Published August 3, 2018

  ATLANTA—With the start of the new school year, three archdiocesan and two independent schools welcome new administrators. Independent schools Monsignor Donovan High School, Athens, and Pinecrest Academy, Cumming, have new heads of school. Paul Gessner will serve as head of school at Monsignor Donovan High School, and Edward Spurka, Ph.D., will fill the same role […] Full Story

• Sister with vocation as hermit will be Magnificat speaker

  Published July 5, 2018

  ATLANTA—The speaker at the Magnificat meal for women on Saturday, Aug. 4, has a unique vocation in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Sister Mary Beatrice Raphael is a canonical hermit, having professed perpetual vows to consecrated life for the Archdiocese of Atlanta last year. How and why does God draw someone from a full and active […] Full Story

• Seniors honored by local high schools

  Published July 5, 2018

  ATLANTA—The following recently graduated seniors from Catholic parishes in the Atlanta area were honored by their high schools.   DeKalb School of the Arts, Avondale Estates Richy Wagner was named the 2018 valedictorian at the DeKalb School of the Arts. He is the son of Frank and Betsy Wagner and attends Our Lady of the […] Full Story

• Statement on U.S. immigration policy

  

  Published June 29, 2018

  ATLANTA—Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory has released the following statement on the U.S. government’s recent immigration policy separating migrant families. “The recent immigration policy that has separated children from their parents is deeply disturbing. The administration’s ‘zero-tolerance’ policy resulted in many children being torn from the arms of their parents and placed in separate detention facilities […] Full Story | En Español

• Spring was a season of state championships for Catholic schools

  By MICHAEL ALEXANDER, Staff Photographer
  Published June 21, 2018

  ATLANTA—Archdiocesan and independent Catholic high schools captured individual and team state championships this spring in sports like lacrosse, soccer and track and field. Here is a school-by-school breakdown of the state champions: Blessed Trinity High School, Roswell, Class AAAA Teams: Boys’ lacrosse, defeated Greater Atlanta Christian, Norcross, 6-5; it was the team’s first trip to […] Full Story

• Newspaper, communications office receive 16 Catholic Press awards

  Published June 21, 2018

  GREEN BAY, Wis.—The Georgia Bulletin and the Office of Communications for the Archdiocese of Atlanta earned a total of 16 Catholic Press awards for work done in 2017, some for collaborative projects, at this year’s Catholic Media Conference. The awards were announced at the June 15 banquet that closed the conference. The conference, held June […] Full Story

• Cathedral’s Hyland Center project moving forward

  

  By NICHOLE GOLDEN, Staff Writer
  Published June 21, 2018

  ATLANTA—As rector of the distinctive Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta, Msgr. Frank McNamee wears many hats. His favorite lately is a white hard hat that he dons to go outside and check on the construction progress of the parish’s new Hyland Center. The demolition and construction project in the cathedral’s courtyard began after […] Full Story

• Msgr. Churchwell was ‘always there for the people’

  By JEAN DRISKELL, Special to the Bulletin
  Published June 21, 2018

  ATLANTA—The brother priests of Msgr. Stephen T. Churchwell, JCD, remembered his love of vocation and people at a June 7 vigil at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Atlanta. The longtime priest and canon lawyer for the Archdiocese of Atlanta died May 31. He was 68. “From the earliest of times, Steve knew something was […] Full Story

• Theology on Tap provides unity for young adult community

  

  By C. DANIELS-DUBOSE, Special to the Bulletin
  Published June 21, 2018

  ATLANTA—A Facebook post alerted Michael Brown to the Theology on Tap event May 23 at a brewery in Atlanta’s Grant Park neighborhood. Although the event started in two hours, Brown knew he had to be there. “To see such a young Catholic crowd in Atlanta getting together—you don’t really see that in the Catholic Church,” […] Full Story

• An opportunity to meet the new priests

  Published June 21, 2018

  Father Jack Knight Age: 31 Family: Jack and Lelis Knight; three sisters. Secular career: Assistant in the Office of Catholic Schools, Archdiocese of Atlanta; coffee barista; medical office billing assistant. The Call: “My parents and three older sisters are the ones who formed my heart of service and self-sacrificial love rooted in the person of […] Full Story

• Five priests ordained to serve archdiocese

  By ANDREW NELSON, Staff Writer
  Published June 21, 2018

  ATLANTA—Five men were ordained at the Cathedral of Christ the King June 16 to serve in the Atlanta Archdiocese as priests. As the men take on the ministry in a skeptical age, Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory encouraged them to be “faith witnesses to the living Christ” by serving as “humble credible men of faith.” Archbishop […] Full Story | En Español

• Former Atlantan takes over as director of formation and discipleship

  By NICHOLE GOLDEN, Staff Writer
  Published June 11, 2018

  ATLANTA—It’s home again for Andrew “Andy” W. Lichtenwalner, Ph.D., the new director of the Office of Formation and Discipleship (OFD) for the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory announced Lichtenwalner’s appointment in March, and he officially started in his new role May 21. He joins the Secretariat, replacing Amy Daniels, who transferred to the […] Full Story

• Archbishop announces new priest assignments

  Published June 11, 2018

  ATLANTA—Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory has announced the following changes in priest assignments, effective July 2, unless otherwise noted.   Pastors Father Timothy Hepburn has been appointed pastor of St. Michael Church, Gainesville.   Father Juan Areiza has been appointed pastor of St. Pius X Church, Conyers.   Father Feiser Muñoz Polanco has been appointed pastor […] Full Story

• Atlantan Wessels lives the faith by leading Malteser relief efforts

  By PRISCILLA GREEAR, Special to the Bulletin
  Published June 11, 2018

  ATLANTA—In the U.S. Army Reserve, Maj. Gen. Thomas Wessels engaged in missions across the Middle East and Southeast Asia from Bahrain to Saudi Arabia. Now retired after 37 years of military service and a 43-year banking career, he travels from Haiti’s slums to Colombian jungles to lead a new strategic mission: to uplift the hemisphere’s […] Full Story

• Atlanta’s Order of Malta has been helping for 25 years

  Published June 11, 2018

  ATLANTA—Some 50 Knights and Dames and 20 auxiliary members of the Atlanta Region of the Order of Malta exercise their faith in care for the least. The Atlanta Region of the Order of Malta was established in 1993 by Msgr. Edward Dillon, pastor of Holy Spirit Church, Atlanta. The religious lay and chivalrous Order of […] Full Story

• Six years since conversion, Atlanta native ordained deacon

  

  Published June 7, 2018

  ATLANTA—Finding himself a Catholic is not what Mark White envisioned for himself as a young man. Growing up he wasn’t hostile toward faith, he just didn’t see its point, he said. “I would have presented myself as someone who didn’t care.” The journey has had many twists and turns, as he was inspired by his […] Full Story