The following is the text of Mayor Ivan Allen’s speech welcoming Bishop Bernardin to Atlanta, given at the reception held last Wednesday evening at the Mariott Motor Hotel.

It is a deeply appreciated personal privilege to extend on behalf of the City of Atlanta...a warm welcome to the new bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta.

We greet Bishop Bernardin not as a stranger...but as a good neighbor.

In addition to Bishop Bernardin’s many other eminent qualifications...I think, it is noteworthy that he brings the fresh viewpoint and vigor of youth to his new high position.

He is the youngest bishop in his church in America; and Archbishop Hallinan is the youngest archbishop.

As Bishop Bernardin enters upon his new duties, I would like to emphasize that over the span of four centuries the Catholic clergy and laity have been prime movers in the development of Georgia.

This has been particularly evident in Atlanta...where the Roman Catholic clergy and laity...have done so much to improve education, to foster the arts and culture, to help create and maintain a climate of racial amity.

For example, our first hospital was St. Joseph’s, established in April 1880. Over the ensuing 86 years, St. Joseph’s time and again has expanded its facilities to provide increasing service to our growing population.

Again, Marist was the pioneer which blazed the trail for private secondary education.

Again, it was Archbishop Hallinan who showed us that racial discrimination can be abolished in grammar school and high school education. One of his first acts in assuming his duties here was to integrate all the church schools.

Now the Catholic Church is building a great new institution to serve boys and girls who are bereft of their parents. This is the “Village of St. Joseph,” an investment of a million and a quarter dollars to care for orphaned boys and girls.

On the drawing board are plans for a shining new ornament to our central city. This is the Catholic Center which will rise upon the site which Marist School occupied for so many years before moving to its magnificent new campus.

To list all notable Catholic contributions to the all-around advancement of Atlanta would take much more time than we can spare tonight.

Let me conclude by saying whenever I look out of my office in City Hall I am reminded of how much the Catholic Church means to Atlanta.

As I look toward “Five Points” I see the impressive square tower of “Immaculate Conception”...the oldest of Atlanta’s nineteen Catholic Churches.

As I glance toward our State Capitol, I see the marble memorial which commemorates the brave stand taken by Father Thomas O’Reilly during the “War Between the States.”

It was his protest that caused the then City Hall and Courthouse and four Protestant Churches...as well as his own to be saved from destruction when Atlanta was burned by a conquering army.

So it is with remembrance of great Catholic contributions to Atlanta’s past and present, and with confident expectation of even greater contributions to Atlanta’s future, that we welcome Bishop Bernardin.

Laity Welcome Bishop

By G. Albert Lawton

It is my happy distinction to welcome you, Bishop Bernardin, in the name of the laity of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. I am therefore attempting to speak for the 44,000 Catholics resident in the 71 counties of North Georgia - a formidable assignment.

Who are these 44,000? Like people anywhere, they are a mixture -- a mixture of young and old, colored and white laborers and professional men, foreign born and native; they include children in school, the teachers of these same children, corporate executives, doctors, merchants, farmers, sick people in hospitals, young men and women in colleges and universities, and even the Catholic prisoners in the federal penitentiary. We are not a homogenous group. While this dissimilarity makes it difficult to describe the laity, it does offer me one advantage; I am sure you can find among us companions in whatever your hobby might be as we have ardent enthusiasts in every avocation from water skiing to stamp collecting, so you cannot possibly lack fellowship no matter what your interests might be. I reiterate, however, that we cannot be classified into a convenient pattern so that I can say to you: “This is our laity -- it is they who welcome you.” The Church in Northern Georgia was small and struggling until all too recently. It was only 40 years ago that Sacred Heart Parish in midtown Atlanta was the northernmost parish in the State of Georgia, extending all the way to the South Carolina border. It was not until 10 years ago - 1956 - that Atlanta became a separate diocese. In an area of 22,000 square miles, over 4 times the size of the State of Connecticut, until recently possessing such a small Catholic population, and so few priests and churches, one wonders how we came to be 44,000 strong today and how we can today enjoy a status and prestige with persons of other persuasions

rarely duplicated in other American cities.

The answer, I believe, lies in the dedication of the clergy in earlier decades - men like Monsignors Cassidy, Moylan, O’Connor and Archbishop O’Hara who worked under the most difficult circumstances to foster the faith. And it also lies in the few great families like the Paynes and Smiths, the Havertys, the Lamberts, the Spaldings, the deGives, the Gatins and the Kanes who over the years by their personal example and preeminence made Catholicism a badge of distinction in this area. These people, both clergy and laity, of the previous generation built a foundation on which, as the economy and population of our section of the state grew, Catholicism could flourish.

Over the years northern Georgia became the distribution center of the entire Southeast. Naturally, the largest northern industries sent their people here as branch managers and district managers. These were families from Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York and other cities where Catholics constituted 35% or more of the total population. As a consequence, with the growth of this area, the Catholic population enlarged disproportionately until now it is approximately 2% for the 71 counties and perhaps as high as 3% for Greater Atlanta. Very quickly, the new arrivals were assimilated and infected with the enthusiasm and zeal of the longer-term residents.

As a matter of fact, it was only recently that our own archbishop came to us, as you know, and he, too, just like the immigrating laity, has been completely and wholeheartedly taken into the community -- and not merely the Catholic community, as he has endeared himself to men of all faiths. The affection in which we hold him is but one more reason we are gratified to have you at hand because we know you will relieve him of some of his burdens.

And we are especially pleased that you came to us at this particular time when we are shortly to have a Lay Congress which will develop recommendations for the Synod. We look forward to your guidance in our deliberations, particularly since many of our suggestions involve the areas of your responsibility you have so ably discharged in Charlestown.

Today these 44,000 people spread throughout 22,000 square miles possess only one common denominator and that one is: each of us is genuinely joyful to have you among us and each pledges his untiring cooperation, service and obedience.

Bishop’s Talk At Reception

In late February I made arrangements to visit Archbishop Hallinan as well as Msgr. O’Connor from whom I wanted to obtain some information regarding the vocational program of the archdioceses. The plane reservations were made for 3:00 p.m. March 2. At 9:00 that morning the letter arrived from the Apostolic Delegate informing that I had been appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Atlanta but that it could not be publicized until further notice. Naturally, I went through with the trip but no one, either in Atlanta or Charleston, will believe that the trip was honestly planned for the announced purpose. When I tell them that the trip and the appointment were in no way connected, they simply look at me and say “We understand.” I must admit, however, that my perspective changed entirely. Because of that letter, Atlanta changed from a wonderful city which I always like to visit to the city which would be my permanent home. And, as a result, I am afraid that I must have seemed very inquisitive to my hosts because I was anxious to learn as much about Atlanta as I could.

Of course, I already knew a great deal about the city. Just as everyone knows where Charleston is because of its location between the two great rivers, the Cooper and the Ashley, which form the Atlantic Ocean, so I knew, as did everyone else, that Atlanta is located north, south, east, west, over and under Peachtree Street.

I also knew that Atlanta is one of the finest cities in America, a city which is progressive, forward-looking, yet very warm and sensitive to the needs and feelings of its people. It is a city which has a charm which makes it irresistible. It is a city which has given extraordinary leadership to the South.

And the vitality of the city is reflected in the life of the Church. In every field but especially the liturgy, ecumenism and human relations, the archdiocese has given practical and lively expression to the renewal for which Pope John and the Second Vatican Council have called. In so many ways, the Church of Atlanta exemplifies the openness - the new spirit which is at work today among God’s people.

I knew, too, that Atlanta was the new home of the Braves, but I didn’t know what to say to my many friends who asked whether the auxiliary bishop would have a permanent box in the new stadium.

I was also aware of the fact that clergymen are well respected in Atlanta, thanks to a Methodist minister by the name of Reverend Sam Jones who flourished around the turn of the century. As I heard the story, the reverend gentleman was very much opposed to whiskey. Once he spoke out against whiskey in a town where liquor interests were powerful and the mayor took his cane to the evangelist. Forgetting his clerical dignity, Sam wrestled the cane from the man, threw it aside and beat him with his fists. To the astonished bystanders he explained: “If I had let him whip me, everywhere I went some mayor would be jumping on me. I decided to nip that pastime in the bud.”

Tonight I pay tribute to those who are responsible for making the city of Atlanta and the archdiocese what they are: I salute Archbishop Hallinan and the priests of the archdiocese for their leadership. I consider it a privilege to be associated with them and I promise to help them in every way I can.

I also salute the leaders of other faiths -- Orthodox, Protestant and Jewish. In these troubled times in which we live it is imperative that men of strong religious convictions stand together so that in their lives and ministry the goodness, the mercy and love of God will shine forth. For only in this way will men be effectively drawn toward God and encouraged to live morally good lives themselves. I am anxious to meet the religious leaders of the area personally so that I can join my efforts to theirs for the spiritual well being of the community.

I pay tribute also to the civic leaders who are so responsible for the direction which the city and the state have taken.