Representatives of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the community will greet newly arrived Auxiliary Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin at a public reception Friday, May 6, at the Cathedral Center. Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan has extended an invitation to all to meet Bishop Bernardin.

The lay reception in the Cathedral Center will begin at 8 p.m., Friday evening. The program will open with musical selections offered by the Glee Club of Drexel High School.

Herbert G. Farnsworth will be master of ceremonies for the reception.

Words of welcome will be given on behalf of the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Men by the vice president Lewis Gordon who will act on behalf of the president, Paul Smith.

Mrs. Harry D. Horsey, Jr., president of the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, will speak for that group; and the president of the Lay Congress, Mr. James W. Callison will also give words of welcome.

The representative of the students attending the archdiocesan high schools, Thomas T. Nerney, will welcome Bishop Bernardin on behalf of the students.

Archbishop Hallinan will precede the honoree, Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin.

Bishop Bernardin’s first official acts in the archdiocese included a press conference Wednesday morning and a Pontifical concelebrated Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the King Wednesday evening. Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan presided at the Mass. The Consultors of the archdiocese concelebrated the Mass with Bishop Bernardin, who was the principal celebrant.

Following the Mass of reception, a welcoming banquet attended by civil dignitaries and the clergy of Atlanta and Charleston was held. The Honorable Bob Richardson, chief of staff to Governor Carl Sanders, extended the welcome of the state of Georgia to Bishop Bernardin. He represented Governor Sanders, who was out of the country. The Honorable Ivan Allen, Jr., mayor of Atlanta, welcomed the new auxiliary bishop to the city.