Two members of the Archdiocesan Religious Unity Commission attended the recent meeting of the Georgia Council of Churches.

Father Matthew Kemp, priest-secretary, and Don Kelley, vice chairman, were the first Catholics to attend the council as fraternal delegates. Father John J. Mulroy attended one session last year as an observer.

“It was the first time we were officially invited,” Father Kemp said. He said the council that he looked forward to the organization and to the time when the entire Catholic Church belongs to the World Council of Churches.

The council called for a repeal of all state laws providing for capital punishment and a gubernatorial stay of execution for all prisoners now sentenced to death. A resolution asked the General Assembly and Gov. Lester Maddox to end the death penalty and to commute current sentences.

The council also asked the State Board of Education and Board of Regents to authorize the revision of approved textbooks to include a fair representation of all ethnic groups. Formation of urban coalitions in various cities was urged to “seek solutions to the critical problems highlighted by the riots of the past summer.”