The Archdiocesan Synod will come to grips on Monday, Oct. 31, with the issues facing the Church in the Archdiocese of Atlanta and what its future role will be.

The synod will hold its first pre-synodal session Monday at the Cathedral Center to begin going over reports filed by the committees of priests and the sisters, lay and young adults congress, Father Michael Manning, chairman, said.

“The priests will meet Thursday and Friday with the archbishop and bishop and go over the committee reports like we did the reports of the congresses. Then on Monday we will begin the discussion,” Father Manning commented. The second pre-synodal session is scheduled for Nov. 7, the third for Nov. 14. The sessions are being held prior to the official meeting of the Synod on Nov. 20-22.

The area chairmen are Msgr. Joseph E. Moylan, on the Archdiocese of Atlanta; Msgr. Michael J. Regan, the parish; Msgr. Joseph G. Cassidy, priests and people; Father Vincent P. Brennan, Christian formation; Msgr. Patrick J. O’Connor, the church in the community.

Some of the topics to be discussed and studied include territorial divisions of parishes, laymen and sisters in the parish, marriage preparation, ecumenism, the sacraments, cultivation of vocations, personnel requirements of teachers, methods of financing education, the Newman apostolate, programs for youth, the state and causes of poverty in North Georgia and what the Church can do to remedy it, racial justice and inner city work.