By Gretchen Keiser

The ordination of Father David M. Dye to the Catholic priesthood unfolded with traditional grace inside the church and the unusual presence of a small protest outside.

The chaplain at Georgia State University’s urban campus, Father Dye was ordained by Bishop Joseph A. Francis of Newark, N.J., while Archbishop James P. Lyke, OFM, presided and later warmly embraced the priest.

The rite took place at Sacred Heart Church in downtown Atlanta May 30, attended by many from the GSU student body, staff and faculty, where Dye has been working as campus minister while awaiting approval from the Vatican for his ordination as Catholic priest.

The permission came in March, over three years after he and his wife and family entered the Catholic Church. He had been assistant rector of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church prior to his decision to enter the Catholic Church in 1988.

His unusual status of becoming a married Catholic priest came under special provision instituted by the Vatican for the U.S. in the early 1980s and applying only to priests from the Episcopal Church. This led some to stand outside Scared Heart prior to the ordination saying Catholic women or married priest should also be permitted to be priests.

The procession of clergy into the church did not interact with the protest as it passed from the rectory to the sanctuary without going outdoors.

Following the proclamation of the Gospel, Bishop Francis called the candidate forward and in dialogue with Father Don Kenny, vocations director, asked whether the candidate had been judged to be worthy. When Father Kenny responded in the affirmative, the moment of acceptance came, along with applause from the congregation. “You got quite an affirmation, David,” Bishop Francis said, as he began his homily.

“Like (St.) Francis and like anyone answering the call of the Lord to ordination, (Father Dye’s) future work is unknown to us,” Bishop Francis said. “But something in the heart tells us that he is willing to submit his entire person, his entire will, to the wishes of God for him.”

Quoting Pope John Paul II, Bishop Francis said the one requirement to persevere in priesthood is that “we need to know the Shepherd very well. We need a deep personal relationship with Christ…a relationship that requires union in prayer.”

Following the homily, the candidate made his promise to obey the bishop under whom he would serve and then prostrated himself in prayer while the congregation voiced the litany of the saints.

Bishop Francis, who ordained in the place of Archbishop Lyke because of his illness, then laid his hands upon the head of the candidate and recited a prayer of consecration. The other priests who concelebrated the Mass individually laid their hands upon his head also and he was assisted in putting on the priestly vestments by Father Stephen Churchwell.

Following the anointing of his hands for priesthood, members of Father Dye’s family, his wife, Chantal, and children, Gabrielle, Leslie-Marie and David, brought the gifts of bread and wine to the altar.

During the sign of peace, Archbishop Lyke for the first time came from his place at the side toward the new priest. Father Dye opened his arms and embraced him for a few moments, moving the archbishop to tears. Following this, the other priests also welcomed Father Dye and the congregation of about 300 people exchanged signs of peace. Then the celebration of the Eucharist took place.

A Serra Club reception was held afterwards and Archbishop Lyke briefly visited with people, while Father Dye and his wife individually greeted those who had come.

Opinions on the events of the day were as varied as the people present, with the priesthood, the role of women, and the authority of the pope rising to the top of the discussions.

Outside the church prior to Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas parishioner John Dearie, one of 15 silent protesters, described himself as “very frustrated” particularly with what he saw as a preoccupation by Catholic Church hierarchy with certain issues regarding sexuality rather than “proclaiming the Gospel and teaching the people how to live.”

“I’ve got concerns. I’ve been looking for channels to express those concerns,” he said, adding that fellow parishioner George Clements saw the ordination “as an opportunity for us to voice our concerns.”

Barbara Capone of St. Joseph’s Athens, said she and her husband supported optional celibacy for priests because they had known Catholic priests they admired who had married and left the priesthood. “It hurts. It really hurts,” she said. “They are fantastic people.”

Dominican Sister Terry Bolotin voiced support for the ordination of women and married priests, while Lil Corrigan and her husband, Bill, said, “There are an awful lot of priests out there who are married who want to come back” to the active Catholic priesthood.

At the reception, two priests, Father Mario DiLella, OFM, campus minister at Georgia Tech, and Father Stewart Wilber, ordained last December, welcomed the ordination of Father Dye.

“He has built (Georgia State Catholic Center) up like no one can imagine,” Father DiLella said. “We thank God for that grace.” He also expressed puzzlement that those who want the priesthood opened up would not see the ordination of Father Dye as positive.

Father Wilber, who had stopped to tell those outside the church that he respected their freedom of speech, but disagreed with their view, saw Father Dye’s ordination as a unique situation.

“I respect the Holy Father’s decision in the matter,” he said. “My understanding is these are special permissions” for former Anglican priests and not a comment on the discipline of celibacy.

On women’s ordination, he said, “I’m not comfortable with the political left’s identification of a civil rights issue with a theological issue. As far as civil rights for women, I’m totally for it. I think it is better to regard the ordination of women as a theological issue, not a civil rights issue. I don’t think the political left does that and I think people get confused.”

Actor Tom key, who recently joined the Catholic Church, found the ordination moving and sought to focus on a perspective larger than each individual’s viewpoint.

“The Church universal decides who is a priest and I submit to that,” he said. “If the Church and the Holy Father say (David Dye) is a priest, I can call him Father now with complete gratitude.”

One of the reasons he and his family attracted to the Catholic Church, Key said, was a recognition of how necessary it is to place “principles above personality.”

Father James Parker of Charleston, S.C., in a later telephone interview, said ordinations of married former Episcopal priests to the Catholic priesthood are “an exception to the norm (of celibacy) and not a precedent against the norm.”

Father Parker, who was the first to be accepted under this provision, assists Cardinal Bernard Law in carrying out the work of applying the provision in the U.S. Between 55 and 60 men in the U.S. have now become Catholic priests under the provision, he said, which applies only to former Episcopal priests.

The provision allowed them to be considered for Catholic priesthood, he said, because they were “formed theologically and spiritually in a Catholic mode” and because those who came to the Catholic Church did so in conscience to be in full communion with Rome.

Father Dye said, “I became a Catholic because in conscience that was where God was leading me.”

He expressed hope at “beginning” work that needs to be done at Georgia State, including daily Mass.

“The primary reason to be there is so students have somebody to talk to if they want to,” he said. “Lots of young people don’t come to church, which makes it all the more important to reach out to them at that point in their lives.”

Some students who come to the campus center “are going to have vocations in the church,” and need encouragement. Faculty and staff who are Catholic appreciate a place there for Mass and for mutual support, he said. “It’s a beginning,” he said of the ordination day. “There’s so much to be done.”