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By Michael Motes
The recently dedicated educational building at St.
Philip Benizi Church in Jonesboro is the latest addition to a parish which had
a humble beginning six years ago when the first Mass celebrated in the town was
offered in a renovated drug store.
The history of the parish actually dates back to
April 1957 when Father George Daly, pastor of St. John the Evangelist in
Hapeville, first looked for land for a mission in Jonesboro. One year later,
Father Daly purchased five acres of land next to the Jonesboro airport and the
growth of that was how St. Philip Benizi Parish began.
After eight years of fund-raising, the Catholics
of Jonesboro had saved $10,000 toward the establishment of a church and
requested to late Archbishop Hallinan to have Mass offered in the town.
The archbishop granted the request and stated that
as soon as a suitable locale could be found, a priest would be assigned to what
was then the Jonesboro Mission.
Throughout the summer of 1965, a small group of
men, women and children, including non-Catholics, worked to renovate the old
Jonesboro drug store. Donations from the monks at Conyers, Father Edward
Flatley at Fort McPherson and Sacred Heart in Atlanta provided the necessary
articles to equip the small chapel.
The Reverend Daniel J. O'Connor, secretary for
education in the archdiocese, was appointed priest-in-charge of the mission and
on Sept. 12, 1965, the first Mass was offered.
When Archbishop Hallinan elevated the mission to
parish level in 1967, Father O'Connor was appointed first pastor. A gift of
$10,000 for the parish was received from the Extension Society and in memory of
the Frank J. Lewis family, the donor, the parish was named in honor of St.
Philip Benizi, a 12th century Servite renowned for his ability to
restore peace between quarreling factions and a favorite saint of the Extension
Society.
The first Mass in the new church, which had taken
10 years to become a reality, was celebrated on April 30, 1967. The rectory was
completed the following July and Father O'Connor moved in, ending the first
phase of building at St. Philip Benizi.
The newest building project, the CCD Center and
parish hall was dedicated by Archbishop Donnellan on Sunday, Nov. 21. The
parish building has a large hall, a kitchen, eight classrooms and a library and
is the center of parish activity. It is used for religious education classes
for the 450 young people of the parish, for adult education classes, leadership
courses and ecumenical gatherings.
In his homily delivered at the dedication, Father
Tony Morris said, "This building should reflect a dynamo of activity
celebrating the reality of life, pointing out the ways that life can be lived
to the fullest by every man, relating man's life to its totally other source
which is God, who is Life itself."
Archbishop Donnellan was celebrant at the
dedication Mass. Concelebrants were Father O'Connor, the founding pastor;
Father Joseph Beltran, second pastor at St. Philip's and present pastor of
Corpus Christi, during whose pastorate the building was constructed; and Father
Alan M. Dillmann, present pastor of St. Philip Benizi.
Father Dillmann, a native of New York City, hopes
eventually to expand the parish into Fayette County. He has recently joined the
Clayton County Ministerial Association and feels that it is very important that
the parish "share in county life on the ecumenical basis."
Father Dillmann, who studied at St. Bernard's
Minor Seminary in St. Bernard, Ala., and St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, was
ordained May 23, 1959.
He has served as assistant pastor of Christ the
King and Immaculate Heart of Mary, and on the Archdiocesan Commission on Sacred
Liturgy. He was on the teaching staff of St. Pius X High School prior to
becoming pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in 1967. He was appointed pastor of St.
Philip Benizi last June. |
