Rev. Leonard F.X. Mayhew

A state university always has a special relationship to the government, business world and professions of its state. This has always been true of the University of Georgia in Athens. The great majority of the political and community leaders of Georgia are alumni of the institution. A related fact -- and one which we Catholics must evaluate realistically -- is that, now and in the future, the University of Georgia has a very important relationship to the life and growth of the Church in Georgia.

From every part of the state, young Catholics in ever increasing numbers are converging on the University of Georgia. More and more of them are pursuing their higher education in the schools of this growing and vital institution. These young men and women are the future backbone and lay leaders of our archdiocese, our parishes and our Catholic organizations. The Church in Georgia has an enormous stake in their education. The 800 Catholic students now studying there -- and the 2,000 expected there within the relatively near future -- are one of the most precious resources of the kingdom of God in our midst.

We in the archdiocese of Atlanta cannot be unconcerned about the Catholic life of these young men and women. These are their most formative years. Their experience of Catholic life during their years at the University will contribute -- or detract -- very much indeed in relation to their own spiritual well being and their effectiveness as witnesses of Catholicism for the rest of their lives.

Within the entire Newman program for the Catholic students at the University of Georgia, their common worship in their own chapel should play an important part. The teaching potential of the liturgy, when it is celebrated fully and beautifully, is unequalled. The experience of active participation in worship within the student community will dispose the maturing young Catholic for an active, articulate role in the Church and community in later years. The lived experiences of the liturgical year and the sacramental vitality of the liturgical celebrations will do far more than theoretical religious study to deepen the personal commitment of the student to Christ’s work.

Clearly, there is an urgent need for a proper environment for the public, liturgical worship which is so necessary an experience for the young Catholic student. Likewise, a chapel which invites the student to personal, private spiritual development is a necessity. It is for this reason that the Archdiocesan Expansion Program has placed such an emphasis on this particular goal. We are called on to insure the future of the Church by the present experiences of the young students at the University of Georgia.

The chapel to be built at the Newman Center will be a “portrait” of the Christian life, impressing on those who worship and pray there the truths which feed our faith, hope and love. The focus of the chapel will, of course, be the altar of sacrifice with its Communion stations. These will stand as a constant invitation from Christ to His members to share in the banquet he spreads so generously before us. Our daily need for “our daily bread” will be graphically expressed.

The altar of reservation will contain the tabernacle for the abiding Eucharistic presence of Our Lord -- again an invitation “to come apart and rest awhile” in personal communion with Him. Even outside the liturgical celebrations, the lectern and pulpit will be a symbol of the Word of God which feeds our faith and ideals.

Every detail of the design of the student chapel at the University of Georgia will be calculated to strengthen the social consciousness of the students who worship there. They will be reminded in innumerable ways of the community of the people of God to which they belong and through which they live in Christ and His members by love. By the entry to the chapel will be the font for Baptism, the Sacrament of our common re-birth and our initiation into the Mystical Body. The confessionals for the Sacrament of Reconciliation with Christ and His Mystical Body, whenever this has been ruptured by sin, will flank the baptistery area. All will converge on the sanctuary area with its altars, communion stations and lecterns.