By Chris Eckl

What has Don Kelley learned as vice president of the Christian Council of Metropolitan Atlanta and as vice chairman of the Archdiocesan Religious Unity Commission?

His close association with men of other faiths has made him more inquisitive about his own. He has found common ground with many new friends.

“One principal observation is it that in two years with the commission and my time with the council there is an acknowledgement of the word Christian,” Kelley said in an interview. He said his past training emphasized his being a Catholic but not the common bond among Christians. “What is significant is you turn your attention to the similarities between the Christian religions, rather than the differences.”

“However, you don’t have to join the Christian Council or be a member of the Unity Commission to be effective in ecumenical relations. The opportunity may be the neighbor or the church next door.”

Kelley, an assistant professor in the School of Management at Georgia Tech and brother of Father Paul Kelley, said charity should not interfere with truth in ecumenical dialogues. “The best preparation for ecumenical encounter is to understand your own faith as fully as possible. Don’t apologize for it. Don’t fail to identify differences between your doctrine and someone else’s to maintain a new-found friendliness.”

He is one of the six vice presidents of the Christian Council of Metropolitan Atlanta and the only Catholic office holder since Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin left Atlanta. Three of the vice presidents are laymen and three are clergymen. Other Catholics who are members of the council are from three churches -- the Cathedral of Christ the King, St. Jude’s and Sacred Heart -- and two individual priests, Father James F. Scherer, secretary of Catholic Social Services, and Father John L. Hein, S.J., director of Ignatius House.

Kelley became connected with the Christian Council early this year in working out details for a Christian Unity Service at the cathedral. “Dr. Harmon Moore, executive director, and Bishop Bernardin wanted Catholic laymen in the council and I’m the one they talked to.”

Kelley’s job with the council is in administration. “We are at a stage in the life of the council when we are asking what it should become. An association for ministers for social services? A kind of fraternity? A place where religious leaders can find partners for community action? Mayor Allen came to us recently and appealed for assistance from churches in helping to form attitudes that will contribute to the positive development of our community.”

“The mayor told us we will have to get out of the resolution passing stage because between a resolution and its implementation there is a great deal of commitment.”

He said no church can fight injustice alone and the council is trying to become an action group. “One of the things under question is the name of the council. Should it have a broader name to include all religions including members of the Jewish tradition who are significant forces in our community?”

Kelley said developments in the Church have created a new vocabulary. “Rather than talking about non-Catholics, reformers, Protestants, we now use phrases like separated brethren, fellow Christians, people of God.”

Asked if effective cooperation can be carried out by men of different faiths, Kelley replied with a quote from Robert McAfee Brown. Brown wrote, “If we cannot demonstrate our solidarity in Christ by our united action against racial and economic injustice, we have little cause to believe that the world must take notice of what we say or do elsewhere.”

Kelley said his association with Christian clergy and laity and Jewish laymen and rabbis has made him aware “of the great opportunity Catholics have to learn from their Christian and Jewish friends.” “It includes the emphasis on scripture, the importance of participation in the liturgy by other Christians. The Jews have a great dedication to the presence of prayer in the family, a commitment to the basic concept that one prays -- at least potentially -- at all times, not just in the synagogue.”

Kelley replying to a question about the ‘Catholic presence’ in the Christian Council, said, “We have been received openly and lovingly. We are not considered strangers.”

“All Christians are making substantive changes in their own organizations and official policies. I don’t know where all churches are going or what kind of structures they will have in the future but unity will not come if any group simply waits for another group to move toward it. It will come as all groups move out.”

“The kind of growth and broadening of view that took place at the Second Vatican Council is permanent. Once you have a new perspective you can’t go back to where you were and I think you could build a good case that a chain of openness has occurred.”

Kelley said one thing that should not be overlooked in ecumenical affairs is the influence of prayers. “There is a sequence of events. If I open myself to praying for someone, for some group, there is a natural tendency for me to want to pray for that person or group. No matter how difficult the road to unity. Christians must believe their prayers, their ‘asking and knocking’ will be heard and answered.”