Two Atlanta priests, Fr. Joseph Beltran and Fr. Joseph Sanches were among the 200 delegates from all over the country who attended last week’s annual meeting of the National Federation of Priests’ Councils in Denver.

Fr. Beltran is pastor of Corpus Christi Church in Stone Mountain. Fr. Sanches is assistant pastor of Sacred Heart Church in downtown Atlanta.

While both Atlantans found the sessions rewarding, they complained that the priest-delegates had to deal with too many resolutions in too short a time.

One of more than 50 resolutions passed last week called for a special “Christian ministry to the homosexual community.” Fr. Sanches saw some need for local application of this resolution. “Atlanta has a rather large gay community to which no one is paying any attention,” he said. “Perhaps there could be a specialized ministry out of Sacred Heart Church.”

Another resolution protested the discrimination practiced by some fraternal societies and private clubs. The two Atlanta priests felt this particular resolution should be strongly promoted in North Georgia. Fr. Beltran said that he had personally once dropped his membership in a private club when he discovered the club had an exclusionary racial policy.

An almost unanimous vote of the priests at Denver condemned American participation in the Vietnam war and specifically called attention “to the immorality of the automated air war.” Fr. Beltran disclosed that he was one of the few priests who voted against that particular resolution. “I can’t accept the word ‘immoral’,” he said. “I think the morality of the war is doubtful.”

A related resolution acknowledged “the debt owed to Frs. Philip and Daniel Berrigan, and others who have shown opposition to the Vietnam war.” The resolution, passed by a large majority, requested financial contributions for the Harrisburg 7 defense fund and participation in a Holy Week “pilgrimage” to Harrisburg. Fr. Beltran expressed his dissent to this resolution also: “I can support the Berrigans as fellow priests, but not their overt acts.”

The matter of priestly celibacy was once again discussed. A resolution was passed by a 128-70 vote which called for “change in the celibacy law for priests of the Latin rite.” Both Atlanta delegates voted against the resolution, as they had been instructed by the local senate of priests.

Other notable resolutions passed at the Denver meeting called for a guaranteed annual income for all U.S. citizens and the admission of women to the diaconate.

Reflecting on the convention as a whole, both Fr. Beltran and Fr. Sanches felt the high point was a Mass concelebrated by all the priests with Archbishop Casey of Denver and Bishop Flores of San Antonio. “It was a true liturgy of reconciliation,” said Fr. Sanches.

The two Atlanta priests are in the process of preparing a full report on the Denver meeting, to be submitted in the near future to all the priests of the archdiocese.

--JJM