By Mary Lackie

What unites inner-city parishes in a time of transition?

Pastors of three churches in downtown Atlanta say it is tradition and service to the community.

“The most affluent families are actually closer to other parishes,’ said Father Arthur Murray, O.F.M., pastor of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. “They continue to come here- they come from loyalty, and from the memories connected with the church.”

Less than five per cent of the parishioners are in their 30s, Father Murray said. “All parish organizations are small. It always amazes me that 165 families in the parish can do so much.”

The priest traced the history of the Shrine where baptismal records date back to 1847 when the last two slaves in Henry County were baptized.

John O’Hara, the head of a clan of Irish gypsies began a tradition in 1881 which brings descendents of seven families together every April 28 for the funerals of those who have died during the year.

“The clan, called the Irish Travelers, used to be horse traders. Now they are migrant workers. They come from Augusta, Murphy’s Village, Chattanooga and Birmingham,” the priest said. “Last year three were buried from the Shrine, and the trucks were triple-parked down Central Avenue for the funerals.”

Parishioners of the Shrine recognized out-of-town visitors on Sunday—especially during football season. Father Murray said, “You can tell the football players by their wide shoulders.”

Located in a hotel area of the city, Sacred Heart Church has more than 500 visitors attending the eight Sunday Masses, said Father John Mulroy, pastor.

“There is a family Mass in the basement of the church on Sundays followed by instruction classes for adults and children. We plan to begin a folk Mass at noon on Sundays,” the priest said.

“The liturgy is the source of unity in any parish,” Father Mulroy commented. The priests of Sacred Heart work as a team on parish policies and wrote their first pastoral letter on the liturgy.”

A second pastoral letter will outline parish unity according to the norms of the archdiocesan synod. There will be a parish council, board of education, budget and planning committees. Father Mulroy said, “all problems of the parish—its total mission will be covered through the parish council.”

“There are 200 families registered in the parish, representing all age groups. One problem we are facing is that families with small children are reluctant to move back into the city—the schools are located in suburban parishes,” the priest said. “Despite the changes, the parish is steadily growing and adapting to the new role.”

Many of the parishioners who attend Our Lady of Lourdes Church live closer to other parishes, said Father Alan Dillmann, pastor. “They come here because they feel at home—they went to school here; the college students feel they have more to do here, but our ministry is largely to a middle-class group.”

Of the 150 families registered only one is white, the priest said. “The major problem of this parish is that it springs from the days of segregation where there was special ministry to the Negro as a group. In this sense, it resembles an ethnic group parish, and I feel we are making very little impact on the immediate community,” Father Dillmann said.

“I think we need to go deeper than ecumenical meetings,” Father Dillmann said. “There is a ministry here—maybe it is too late; maybe we’ve gone too long without doing enough right in the neighborhood. We have to meet the human needs that are staring us in the face all the time.”

A tutorial program is planned for children at Grady Homes, and several college students are working at Emmaus House and in the Summerhill district, Father Dillmann said.

“But should the parish continue in the traditional sense?” the priest asked. “As a priest from a middle-class background whose ministry has been to the white middle-class, I am trying to ‘tune in.’”

“If seminarians could live in a center and take courses at the very good educational institutions we have in Atlanta, working in the inner city during their spare time, this location would provide an ideal center for them. Let them stay here where the action is, and get some experience.’

Most of the transients who visit Our Lady of Lourdes are white and non-parishioners, Father Dillmann said. At Sacred Heart, 70 percent of the more than $300 a month spent on food tickets and lodging for transients goes to non-parishioners, said Father Mulroy.

An awareness of the poor is a tradition at Sacred Heart parish, Father Mulroy said. An office for the door is open from 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. in the rectory. Records of financial aid and referrals are filed, and the work coordinated with other community agencies, Father Mulroy said.

“Our day begins with the first phone call at 6:30 a.m. At night there are calls from threatened suicides, or hospital calls. When the doorbell rings after 1 a.m. it is usually someone high on drugs, or once in a while, someone who has been drinking too much. When we ask them why they don’t talk to their own clergymen, they often don’t want him to know.”

“There is a tremendous visiting population here,” Father Mulroy said, “People come in for advice because they are away from home, or to go to confession before they go home.”

College students with problems, a few hippies, and the ‘snowbirds’—migrant workers on their way to Florida for the winter-all have found their way to the door. “Some come just to talk, and others for help,’ the priest said.

“We had one lad come in here who was going out to walk into eternity,” said Father Murray. “We talked to him, and put him in the hospital. He’s all right now.’

“There are people definitely in need through no fault of their own—older men and women with no families to care for them, people referred to us by other agencies for aid. There are more non-Catholics than Catholics helped,” Father Murray said.

Priests from the Shrine visit the juvenile home, the jail and rest homes. “The biggest source of work is at Grady,” Father Murray said, “where Father Raphael McDonald is exofficio Catholic chaplain.”

Priests of the three parishes visit the downtown hospitals daily. In the past two years, cooperation with community agencies has improved, said Father Murray. Dialogues with other churches in the area and with the agencies are planned this year to coordinate the work of serving the poor and the transients. And the parishes plan to set up a clearinghouse to coordinate their work with the poor.

“We hope that through an open dialogue on poverty and visits to the agencies the church will be able to coordinate the work,” Father Mulroy said.

All three pastors praised the St. Vincent de Paul Society for its dedication. Father Murray said, “In the past two years the community agencies have come to recognize the effect the work of the Church through the efforts of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and now we are getting calls from them seeking our assistance. They are dedicated men who operate a city-wide program,” Father Mulroy said.

Although the freeways have chopped up the parishes, the priests agreed that the church will be in the inner-city and come into its own with high rise apartments. “The church will be here and will come back into its own. We will be prepared for them.”