By Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer

ATLANTA – A prayer vigil is being held at Holy Trinity Parish, Peachtree City, Dec. 16 to 17 for Father William Calhoun, who was critically injured in a car accident in Fayetteville 10 days earlier.

The vigil will begin with 12:10 p.m. Mass on Friday, Dec. 16. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will continue until noon Saturday, Dec. 17 as members of the parish are in continuous prayer for their pastor, who has been a priest of the archdiocese for 31 years. Others are welcome to join the parish vigil.

Father Calhoun remains in critical condition at Georgia Baptist Medical Center where he was transported by Life Flight helicopter Dec. 7 following a midday accident on Georgia Highway 85.

His injuries include the loss of use of his left eye and possible paralysis, according to a spokesman for the hospital. In a report on his condition on Dec. 13, George Ivey said Father Calhoun was “conscious but not responsive,” indicating that he was apparently aware of his surroundings. In addition to his injuries, the priest is heavily sedated to prevent movement, the spokesman said. He is on a ventilator.

“There is a great deal of paralysis at the present time” but until areas that are swollen in the neck and back subside a true assessment cannot be obtained, Ivey said. Two vertebrae in the lower part of the neck are dislocated, he said.

Father Michael McWhorter, who was named administrator of the parish, said Father Calhoun appeared aware during a visit he made Dec. 11 in which he read cards sent by children at Holy Trinity.

The parish church was open all night Dec. 7 as people gathered after hearing of the accident.

The accident occurred shortly after noon Dec. 7 when Father Calhoun was out shopping at Wal-Mart for shoes for a child whose Christmas request was on the parish Giving Tree, Father McWhorter said.

According to the Fayetteville police report, Father Calhoun was making a left turn out of a side street onto Highway 85 and failed to clear a car traveling north, which struck the back panel of the priest’s vehicle. After the impact, Father Calhoun’s car traveled south in the northbound lanes of Highway 85 and struck a van head on, the report said. Hundreds of people reportedly gathered at the site as emergency crews responded.

Those in the van and other car who were injured were treated and released from a local hospital. Father Calhoun’s critical injuries required his transport by helicopter to Georgia Baptist. Archbishop John F. Donoghue, Msgr. Edward Dillon and a number of other priests gathered at the hospital as soon as notified.

Father Calhoun, who will be 62 years old Dec. 26, became pastor of Holy Trinity Sept. 1 after serving as pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Toccoa for seven years. A native of Carrolton, he became a Catholic while serving in the U.S. Air Force in Germany and then began studies for the priesthood, receiving ordination from Archbishop Paul Hallinan in May 1963. He has been an Air Force chaplain and has served as a consultor to the archbishop and as a dean in the past and is currently a member of the Council of Priests.