ATLANTA—A census of the Catholic population in the Archdiocese of Atlanta will be taken by lay volunteers on the first Sunday in Lent, March 3, between 2:00 and 6:00 p.m., it was announced here by Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan.

The Archbishop also appointed two cochairmen for the census, The Very Rev. Harold J. Rainey, chancellor of the archdiocese, and The Rev. John D. Stapelton, pastor of St. Jude Church, Atlanta, and archdiocesan director of the National Council of Catholic Men.

The census will be the first major project of the recently established Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Men. The ACCM will coordinate the work of some three thousand volunteer workers form the various archdiocesan societies and groups.

Purposes of the census will be:

To give a more accurate basis for future development of the archdiocese.

To find all unknown Catholics within the archdiocesan area.

To provide a more accurate estimate of the spiritual status of the archdiocese.

The following lay leaders have been appointed to assist the cochairmen: publicity—Louis Gordon; research—Albert Lawton; processing—Paul Smith; special problems—Herb Farnsworth. Three additional staff members were also appointed: Leo Zuber, Dr. Norman Berry and Jack Spalding.

Archbishop Hallinan will attend regional meetings in connection with the census on the following dates:

January 11—Cathedral of Christ the King—2:00 p.m. meeting of all pastors.

January 27—St. Joseph’s High School—4:00 p.m. Atlanta pastors with lay group chairman and captains. Also included in this meeting will be delegations form Hapeville, Marietta, and Decatur.

January 28—Similar meeting in Rome to cover that parish and those of Ft. Olgethorpe, Dalton, and Cedartown.

January 29—Meeting in Griffin to cover that parish, Milledgeville, and LaGrange.

Many dioceses throughout the United States have been conducting censuses of the Catholic population. The lapsed and indifferent have often been brought back to the practice of their faith.