Photo by Michael Alexander

ATLANTA—Father Bruce W. Wilkinson, who was a longtime pastor at Most Blessed Sacrament Church in Atlanta, died March 24. He was 70 years old. 

Born in Chicago in December 1954, Father Wilkinson became a Catholic in college. Although his childhood neighborhood was Catholic, his attraction to the church began while he was attending Purdue University and deepened when he enrolled at Morehouse College in Atlanta and began visiting nearby St. Anthony of Padua Church. He was instructed in the faith there and received into the Catholic Church at St. Anthony on Easter 1974 by then-pastor, Msgr. Eusebius Beltran, who later was the Archbishop of Oklahoma City. 

Growing up dreaming of becoming a classical pianist or an architect, he started thinking about the priesthood shortly after entering the church and, with the encouragement of Msgr. Beltran and the vocations office, he completed college at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. Father Wilkinson studied theology at the Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. 

He was ordained June 27, 1981, by Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta. 

Following his ordination, Father Wilkinson served as a parochial vicar at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Decatur and St. Anthony of Padua Church. He was assigned as pastor of St. Anthony in June 1986, leading the parish community there until 1992. He then served as pastor of Most Blessed Sacrament Church for 24 years.  

Father Wilkinson was involved in AIDS ministry and education at parishes where he served. He was a member of the ad hoc committee on the Catholic response to the Atlanta Olympic Games and also supported the work of the vocations commission. 

In addition to parish ministry, Father Wilkinson was part of a group of laity and clergy who began meeting in 1981 to foster an official outreach to Black Catholics in the archdiocese. This led to the establishment of a Commission for Black Catholic Concerns by Archbishop Donnellan in 1982, succeeded by the Office for Black Catholic Ministry in 1985. Father Wilkinson was head of the Black Catholic Commission and then-director of the office and priest-secretary of Black Catholic ministry for many years, stepping down in 1994.  

In a 1983 Georgia Bulletin interview, he spoke about his vocation.  

“My own ministry as a priest and as a Black man can help bolster feelings of commitment by Blacks to the Catholic Church,” said Father Wilkinson. “I hope it can be a witness to the community and to the church. I believe the Catholic Church has an important role to play within the Black community.” 

He helped Black Catholic youth in the archdiocese connect with peers from around the country through national caucuses and meetings, helped host national Black Catholic meetings in Atlanta and facilitated local involvement in events such as the National Black Catholic Congress. Through the Office for Black Catholic Ministry (OBCM) the tradition of an annual prayer service or Mass remembering the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was established. In 2002 the Father Bruce Wilkinson Founders Award was established by the OBCM, and he was the inaugural recipient. It was given to honor individuals who made an outstanding contribution in the ministry of evangelization. 

Father Bruce Wilkinson chats with parishioners following Mass at Most Blessed Sacrament Church, where he served for 24 years. Photo by Michael Alexander

Father Wilkinson is credited with helping to establish the first council of the Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary in the archdiocese at St. Anthony Church in 1986.  

He retired from active ministry in 2017. Father Wilkinson often contributed columns to publications including America magazine—the Jesuit Review. 

Father Wilkinson was a member of the Atlanta Astronomy Club, the Planetary Society, of Pasadena, California; the McDonald Observatory, run by the University of Texas at Austin and of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. He attended its Astronomy and Faith workshop in 2016. Having had a lifelong interest in astronomy, he penned a column for The Georgia Bulletin upon the 50th anniversary of NASA’s moon landing in 2019 and why the accomplishment mattered to the Christian community. 

“Like the many thousands of people of NASA who took the steps to enable humans to land on the moon, God asks us to venture into the joyous mystery of creation’s beauty, both visible and invisible,” he wrote. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Scriptures tell us that we are made in God’s image and likeness. And with that amazing truth, we are asked to continue growing to see just how glorious and good God’s cosmos is.” 

Father Wilkinson was preceded in death by his parents Martha Mainor Wilkinson and Elijah Wilkinson, and his brother Albert Wilkinson. He is survived by his sister-in-law Sharmon Wilkinson, nephew Brian Wilkinson and his wife, Nikki; great-niece Ava Wilkinson; first cousins K Cecilia Mainor and Paul Mainor and cousin Carlton Wilkinson. 

A funeral Mass will be celebrated Thursday, April 10, at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta. Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., will celebrate the Mass. The livestream of the Mass may be viewed at https://cathedralctk.com/livestream. A reception will follow Mass. The committal will be after the reception at Arlington Memorial Park at the St. John Vianney Columbarium in Sandy Springs.