Following are excerpts of speeches given by Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan while he was Bishop of Ogdensburg, NY.

“In the splendid Council document on the Ministry and Life of Priests we are told that by sacred ordination, and by the mission they receive from their bishops, priests are promoted to the service of Christ the Teacher, the Priest and the King.”

“In this age of ours we tend to emphasize the prophetic role of the priest rather than his sacrificial role. In any case, you are to be servants -- servants of Christ, servants of the People of God. Lest you forget, that same Council document reminds you that though he has obligations to all men, a priest has the poor and the lowly entrusted to him in a special way.”

“You shall be men of action -- for God and His people -- yet your action inefficacious only if it is rooted in contemplation...”

“You will belong in God’s world, but you will be really at home only in eternity. You have pledged to God the full strength and vigor of your humanity, but you know that this is worthwhile only if directed and subordinated to divine love.”

Homily at Ordination, of Priests June, 1968

“May I express my thanks for the honor of being invited to address you on the occasion of this brotherhood dinner...”

“I come to you but recently returned from the Second Vatican Council where the meaning of brotherhood took on new dimensions as I lived and worked with my brother bishops from every corner of the world. I come to you still thrilled with the events of the week of prayer for unity where in so many parts of our great north country pastors and people of many Christian denominations came together in prayer that all might be one.”

“Tonight, in particular, I come as one warmed by the greetings and welcomed of my fellow clergymen of all denominations in this area, sure of my place because I have been made at home as their brother...” “There can be no ecumenism worthy of the name without interior conversion. For it is from newness of attitudes of mind, from self denial and unstinted love that desires of unity take rise and develop in a mature way.”

“We should, therefore, pray to the Holy Spirit for the grace to be genuinely self denying, humble, gentle in the service of others and to have an attitude of brotherly generosity towards them.”

Speech at Brotherhood Dinner, Saranac Lake, NY, February 1966

“It is a measure of how far we have progressed in the dialogue and the encounter for unity that we do not regard it as something special and worthy of notice, but rather as normal and desirable that Christians should be united in prayer for the unity for which Christ prayed.”

“Brotherhood is then a point of view which considers a fellow man in his completeness as an individual. It is prepared to accept him as he is, not merely as we wish him to be. For this reason brotherhood is more than loyalty to an agreement, more than orderly living together...” “...All mankind is meant to be one family in God, one holy people in Christ. Therefore, we Christians bear a responsibility for our fellow men, who are our brothers. Unfortunately, too often this responsibility has remained a theory and too seldom has it been made manifest in practice. Too often indeed, brotherhood has been limited by bonds of nation or race, or religious affiliating.” Sermon at Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, January 1967

“....I am concerned about the Church of Ogdensburg and its mission to the poor. The Second Vatican Council spoke of the fact that the hopes and fears and the dreams of all humanity, but especially the poor and the deprived, are the hopes and fears and concern of God’s Church.”

“I somehow fear that we of the Church are not really reaching the poor. We are reaching many of them, of course, and many of them are coming to us, but what worries me is that there are many who are coming -- those who do not regard us as relevant to their situation.”

“We are dealing a great deal with those who come to us, with those who are in our schools, with those who present themselves for the sacraments and those who ask us for some form of temporal aid, but I don’t know if that is enough. I’m honestly concerned that we are not really anxious enough, we are not reaching out far enough, and strong enough, to see that we are involved with the poor. If we are not then, Sisters, we are failing in our message -- we are failing in our vocation.”

Address to the Second Session of the General Chapter of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Ogdensburg Unity, January, 1967

“My brothers and sisters in Christ, if we join together to apply the charity of Christ to the wounds of a fallen humanity, our presently divided churches can find a strong common purpose. In working together to apply the Gospel to the desperate needs of our times and in praying together for that unity which Christ intends, we can experience that unity however imperfectly. But in any case, this is the path on which we must set out together.”

“It will be a long road and the journey will not be easy. We must move together to remove from it the obstacles of centuries of division and strife but we if we are one in Christ through baptism, this is a road we must walk together. Let us begin it in the name and love of Christ -- and bless you!” Address to clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany, NY, October 1966

“On the occasion of my appointment as Archbishop of Atlanta, I offer my gratitude to Pope Paul VI for the confidence he has placed in me by naming me to take up the work so gloriously done by the first Archbishop of Atlanta, Archbishop Hallinan.”

“As an archdiocese, Atlanta has been distinguished for its leadership in matters of civil rights, concern for the poor, ecumenical progress and liturgical excellence.”

“I pledge myself to the continuation of this work in cooperation with the priests, religious and faithful of the archdiocese, with the religious leaders of other churches and with all of the citizens of the great State of Georgia.”

“I ask of all the favor of their prayers that I may be a good bishop and a true shepherd.”

Statement of Bishop Donnellan on his appointment as Archbishop of Atlanta, May 29, 1968.