By Paula Day

"It's as if we'd died and gone to heaven," That's the way the Catholic campus minister at Georgia State University describes the move to roomy, sunlit Suite 601 of One Park Place South.

Campus minister David Dye and students active in the university's Catholic community had shared a "hole in the wall" with other denominations in the university Student Center before the October move to the 1,500-square-foot area that overlooks Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta.

In addition to a large gathering area, a combination office and conference room, small computer room and storage space, the university's Catholics now have their own chapel in which Mass is celebrated twice a week. Just before Thanksgiving they received permission to repose the Blessed Sacrament there. Father John Adamski and Father Kazimierz Jasinski from the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and Father Don Kenny, archdiocesan vocations director, are the usual celebrants for the weekly liturgies.

An altar of Georgia marble, fashioned to specifications and weighing 1,300 pounds, won't be easily moved from its central place in the chapel and that's the way Dye wants it.

"We chose marble over other possibilities -- wood, a table, something in wrought iron -- because we wanted the look of permanence." The ministry received financial support at present from the archdiocese, but it is Dye's hope that in time it will be self-supporting.

Students, faculty, staff and friends drop in to study, to chat, to bring by something to complete the decor, or just to get a soft drink from the refrigerator. After the noon Mass on Thursdays, many stay to share a meal.

It is hard to estimate the size of the Catholic population at the non-residential university. While the Catholic center ministry sends its newsletter to 1,000 on its mailing list, Dye believes there to be between 3,000 and 4,000 Catholics among the faculty, staff and students. Students "come and go" at the center with 60 to 70 actively involved.

"We're gathering the community," Dye explained. The ministry has made its presence felt through its advocacy for pro-life speakers on the campus as well as its volleyball team which made it to the playoffs in campus intramural competition.

Dye feels now that "the nuts and bolts are in place," he and other interested Catholics will have more time to talk about Catholic programs to serve students, faculty and staff.

The center will host a "lock-in" January 25 and 26 directed by Father Kenny. The vocations director will also lunch with faculty and staff on January 16 and talk about creating a vocation-minded community. Dye believes the university environment is an excellent place to identify and encourage priestly and religious vocations.

Students "are just starving for things to commit themselves to," Dye said. "They want to be committed. They need people to tell them it's worth it."