By Mary Lackie

At an age when most priests think of retiring, Msgr. Joseph G. Cassidy began a new career as a chaplain at the second-largest mental hospital in the world.

The 71-year-old priest became a resident chaplain at Central State Hospital in September 1966. He was pastor of the Cathedral of Christ the King for 20 years and for a year before he moved to the hospital, he commuted to Milledgeville to visit patients and offer Mass for the 250 Catholics there.

Msgr. Cassidy said, “Then the archbishop was convinced that my work was a full-time job. Chaplain Douglas Turley, who was trained in Cincinnati, arrived here about 1962 and introduced the religious program. Now there are 10 clinical chaplains and nine intern chaplains at the hospital. The esprit de corps is marvelous.”

Describing the work at the hospital, Monsignor said, “I’ve forgotten the words to some of the Baptist hymns, but everyday we visit the wards, talk to the patients and hold devotional services. A devotional service is like a prayer meeting. The frequent contact with these wonderful chaplains brings the people to a new religious level they might never have reached. When they leave the hospital, they will carry on their religious spirit.”

Devotional services are only a part of the monsignor’s duties. His schedule includes visits to the sick, instruction classes, and three Masses at the main chapel on Sundays. During the week, he offers Mass at the smaller chapels, at the women’s prison and Holly Hall, for patients unable to attend services at the chapels.

He said, “Last evening I was out on two devotional services and tonight there are three. It is a very active ministry, but very consoling. To many people, our work might seem depressing, but in a sense, it is very much like parish life. And, on the surface, the patients are as normal as the people you find in a parish. Here, they are all part of your life. I’ve found the work most satisfactory, and I have worked in some good parishes.”

The chaplains and staff really get to know the people, the monsignor said, “It’s like a small town - or more like one big family. We have some patients who have been here 30 years. They have been abandoned by their relatives. Many of the patients lack the basic things of life and are very poor. These are the ones who need help, but they all have a wonderful sense of humor.”

When the canon of the Mass was first read aloud in Latin, a man came up to the monsignor after Mass and said, “That was marvelous - to think that you could read that language. You are so gifted.”

The monsignor said that the rosary means so much to many of the older people. “So we pray the rosary together. There must be Catholic families who could donate rosaries and missals to these people.” He praised the generosity of the nuns who have donated religious articles, the women who write letters to the patients, and the group of women from Savannah who visit the hospital.

“If only a group from Atlanta could come down here and visit with the personnel and the patients they would find out by talking to them what they could do to help. It’s funny isn’t it - the busiest people always find something more to do,” the monsignor said.

On a tour of the 124-year-old institution, the slender priest displayed his stamina and gentleness. He described the hospital as a place of contrasts interrupting his descriptions to visit and introduce patients and staff members.

He said, “There are over 9,000 patients and 3,000 staff members. Twenty or 25 years ago when I was pastor of Sacred Heart in Milledgeville, I would come out here frequently to say Mass and visit the patients. At that time there was no clergy program, and ministers would alternate on Sundays and come out for emergencies.”

He said, “Back in 1941, the work was mostly custodial care. Everybody wanted to do something to help the patients, but we didn’t know how. Now we have the last word in buildings and modern therapy.”

There are five chapels at the hospital and the money for them was raised by Governor and Mrs. Ernest Vandiver through contributions, the monsignor said.

The hospital grounds are a mixture of old and new buildings, magnolia trees, flowers along the walks and a dusty road where a 150-bed addition is under construction for the Georgia Veterans Hospital. At the sales office, patients sell articles they have made in therapy classes. “Carry all” buses transport patients to the dentists, doctors, and to the apparel shop, a wooden building where they can select clothes donated from all over the state.

Msgr. Cassidy said, “There are new buildings and modern therapy programs. Besides the sports events, movies and parties, there are programs in educational therapy, music therapy and projects of all kinds that give the patients a new outlook on life.”

“The therapy and rehabilitation programs give many patients opportunities they would never had had in their lives and they are most appreciative for what has been done for them. Sometimes a patient will stop you just to say how wonderful the meal was that day and how much they enjoyed it.”

The priest emphasized that it isn’t just buildings and programs he said, “It is the spirit of the personnel that is the secret. You find in your work here that the doctors, nurses and chaplains are really dedicated. There are nurses who just live for these people. They get to know their little whims and peculiarities and take care of them.”

Dr. James Craig, hospital superintendent, has the human touch, the priest said, “He has an expression, ‘give people tender loving care.’ So many patients just need someone to say ‘hello’; someone who will take the time to visit with them.”

Msgr. Cassidy said the chaplains try to encourage an interest in religion. “When patients leave, we refer them to priests or ministers in their own towns. You love to see the patients go home, but it’s amazing how much you miss them. I try to keep in touch with them after they leave.” There are two things the monsignor has loved most in his life. He said, “I have been in some good parishes, but I have found trailer work and work at the hospital most satisfactory. I’ve always contended that a priest is happier in the country than in the city, but I have made it a rule never to make comparisons. This is one of the factors that contribute to peace of mind.” The monsignor recalled the trailer work in the rural areas of Georgia. “When I first came here after my ordination 45 years ago, there were about 20 priests in the diocese. I drove a trailer around the state and would spend three days or a week holding services and saying Mass.” He said, “If there were established churches in the towns, we wouldn’t go there. Sometimes there would be only one Catholic family in a town, and a week before we arrived, a local man would distribute flyers. We would stay in the rural area outside of town and sometimes have as many as 50-100 people at the services. The trailer was designed by a Savannah architect and there was a small altar at the back. We sang hymns, preached and said Mass. We had to take our own generator with us because we showed movies. If you know anything about generators, you know they can cause difficulty, but we never encountered any trouble from the people in the towns.” The monsignor recalled the little towns like Pin Point and Sandfly. “All those towns with their descriptive names. I remember in 1938 while we were in Sandfly doing trailer work, we had to rent the Poor and Needy Hall for seventy-five cents a night. There was a stove in the hall, but we had to bring our own kindling.”

When the monsignor would be assigned to a parish, he continued his trailer work at night or during the week. He said if the people were responsive, they could take his correspondence course and many of them became converts. “I’m still sending out the correspondence course to people,” he said.

Asked to comment on changes in the Church, the monsignor said, “I was brought up in the school of obedience, and I’ve gone along with everything. But, what I think is needed in the Church today by many of the clergy and the laity is a second spring of spirituality. There should be stricter discipline on the part of the clergy and a more sacrificial spirit on the part of the laity. We need a little more penance and sacrifice in our lives. We are getting too much of this world’s goods and things are being made too easy for us.” He added, “But old Mother Church will go on ministering to people. She may be wearing a new dress, but she’ll go on. Nothing can change that. And the Holy Spirit will guide us - we used to say ‘Holy Ghost’ - that was one thing that made the archbishop proud of me - when he heard me say ‘Holy Spirit.’