By Bill Hall

The hour is nine of Wednesday night. The Catholic Student Center on Fifth Street is ablaze with light as are hundreds of other windows on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology. There is nothing unusual about this, for Georgia Tech is a very demanding institution. But let’s focus on the Catholic Student Center.

Several students are lounging in the living room, with others arriving momentarily. Some of them are coeds, and some are non-Catholic. Suddenly, a side door opens and a Catholic priest enters from an adjoining office and everything becomes quiet.

The prelude occurs every Wednesday night at the Catholic Student Center for those students desiring a deeper understanding and knowledge of the Catholic faith, by taking a non-credit course in theology. Participation is voluntary.

The course is taught by Fr. Mario DiLella, OFM, current pastor in residence at the center. A similar course is also taught by Fr. Mario each Tuesday at noon for members of the faculty and staff at Georgia Tech. Fr. Mario reports that he is very much encouraged with the enthusiasm displayed by those who attend the sessions: “The class in dogmatic theology has been very well received and has already sparked much dialogue among the participants. We encourage more to take advantage of this opportunity to learn the scientific approach to our Holy Faith.”

“The theology course is a continuing process,” said Fr. Mario. “It takes about four years for the course content to recycle to what may be considered a new beginning.”

There are 1,109 Catholic students currently enrolled at Georgia Tech, of whom about 270 are from the Archdiocese of Atlanta. The total enrollment is approximately 8,000 students.

Daily Mass is held at 5:30 p.m. in the dining room of the Catholic Center. On Sunday, when larger Mass facilities are needed, an 11:30 a.m. Mass is held in the Student Center theater on Hemphill Street, and a 5:30 p.m. Mass is held at the Presbyterian Center on Techwood Drive.

The Catholic Student Center is also a focal point for Catholic student participation in community programs and projects. One such activity is the Techwood Tutorial Program, which provides assistance to less fortunate youngsters, off campus, in a “big brother” capacity.

Student volunteers also work with the Saint Vincent de Paul Society in providing aid to underprivileged families through the “Volunteer Atlanta” program. In addition, they are active in the school lunch program at the day care center, and contribute 10 per cent of the Sunday student collection to the poor through the World Poverty program.

The spirit of ecumenism is alive at Georgia Tech. The non-Catholic student is welcome to participate in the theology classes as well as any other activity at the Catholic Student Center. This spirit is further evidenced by a monthly steak dinner sponsored jointly with the Presbyterian Center.

Recently, a staff member of the Georgia Baptist Hospital contacted Fr. Mario to request the assistance of Tech students with cars to drive student nurses to the campus for the Sunday liturgy at the Student Center. It seems that the word had gotten out that Georgia Tech had an exceptionally good celebration at the 11:30 a.m. Mass.

A Catholic Center council, consisting of six boys and four girls elected for one year term, assists Fr. Mario in establishing the program for the Catholic Student Center. Current members of the council are: Ralph Ortiz, John Bordon, Jerry Hannon, Sr. Morgan, Franck Pucciano, Nancy Sampson, Jane Macari, Sheryl Janicek and Carey Morgan. Last Fall, this group decided that the Catholic Center should conduct a quarterly communal penitential service. This is now a regular program.

The Catholic Center also publishes a newspaper called GOOD TIDINGS – G.T., which comes out three times each quarter. Abe Sasso and a group of architecture students are responsible for the layout and mimeographing of the newspaper. Asked how he got the 1,200 copies of the paper addressed, Fr. Mario replied, “I just ask for volunteers at Sunday Mass.”

The Georgia Tech Catholic Student Center is an apostolate of the Franciscan Order. The Center, formerly on Fourth Street, was founded in the 1940’s by Fr. Giles Weber. Later, Fr. Alvin Matthews served the Center for six years followed by Fr. Christian Malone.

The current pastor, Fr. Mario Di Lella, a native of Paterson, N.J., came to the Center in September, 1970. He was formerly a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force for five years, and pastor of St. Augustine Church in Thomasville, Ga. for six years.