Bishops and priests from 15 dioceses along the Eastern coast met in Atlanta Tuesday for a regional discussion of the agenda for their national meeting in April.

Forty churchmen, including Lawrence Cardinal Shehan of Baltimore and Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan of Atlanta, attended the meeting, which centered around discussions of the priesthood today. Archbishop Donnellan chaired the session.

The Roman Catholic Church's Synod of Bishops will meet in Rome next October to discuss problems related to the life and work of the priest.

Prior to that meeting, the national groups of bishops around the world are holding local and regional meetings to evaluate the problems at every level.

One such local meeting was held for the Atlanta area last Saturday at the Catholic Center of the Archdiocese of Atlanta on West Peachtree Street. Approximately 75 priests, sisters and lay people attended the three-hour-long meeting.

Tuesday's meeting at the Airport Holiday Inn was a day-long session treating such areas as the nature of the ministerial priesthood today, the lifestyle of the priest, celibacy, and the collaborative relationship among priests, bishops and lay people in the Church.