By Kathi Stearns, Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Father Richard Young, 45, a native of Winston Salem, N.D., is the son of Polly and the late Dr. Richard Young, of Tybee Island, Ga. The son of a Baptist minister, his call to the Catholic faith and eventually the priesthood, came later in his life.

Between the ages of 18 and 30 he drifted away from the Baptist faith. “I kept my belief in Jesus Christ, but it meant nothing to me in my everyday life,” he said.

As he reached his mid-thirties Father Young began to wonder exactly where his life might be taking him. Struggling with feelings of depression and recognizing that his life was mainly job-centered he began to look for something else.

“I was searching for something that would make me feel whole,” he said. “I thought I might achieve this by making Christianity meaningful in my everyday life. When I encountered the Christ-centeredness of the Catholic Church, I found what I was seeking and was hooked.”

In 1989 Father Young entered the Catholic Church through the RCIA program at St. Joseph’s, Athens. “It wasn’t as if I gave up any of my Baptist beliefs; it was more that I enhanced them.”

However, when he journeyed with other members of the RCIA program he learned of the different way the Eucharist is viewed. In the Baptist Church, for example, the Eucharist is viewed as a symbol, while Catholics recognize it as the body of Christ.

“It was a very gradual process for me,” he said. “I wanted to be Catholic so desperately that I decided that things I couldn’t believe in, I’d pray to believe. I was praying for faith because I felt the Catholic faith could be the center of my life. And as the Easter vigil approached there was nothing more the world offered that I wanted to receive. The Catholic faith was clearly the one thing that could make me whole.”

While he was journeying through the RCIA program he recognized his calling to the priesthood. As a priest he believed he could return to the body of the church what the church was already sharing with him.

“I want to bring others to a closer relationship with God,” he said. “I want to show people how their faith can be an everyday experience and make a real difference in their lives.”

Father Young credits Msgr. Donald Kenny, director of vocations; Msgr. Peter Dora, pastor of St. Joseph’s, Father John Fallon, former pastor of St. Joseph’s, and Father Patrick Donaghey, former associate pastor at St. Joseph’s with nurturing his call to the priesthood.

In 1972 Father Young, who is fluent in both Spanish and French, earned a bachelor of arts degree in romance languages from Emory University. After graduating from Emory he taught English in West Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer. From 1981-1991 he taught English as a second language at the University of Georgia.

The new priest hopes to use his knowledge and understanding of different languages and cultures to work with migrant workers and immigrants. “I would like to help those who have fallen through the cracks because outreach programs haven’t helped them,” he said. “We need to find ways to bring these people to the Catholic Church and show them why we are the universal church.”

Father Young spent a year studying pre-theology at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana before he moved to Mount St. Mary’s in Maryland where he earned his master of divinity degree this year. He is currently completing his thesis to earn his master of arts degree.

As a seminarian he completed pastoral internships at St. Joseph’s in the summer of 1992 and at St. John the Evangelist, Hapeville, during the summer of 1994. In 1993 he spent the summer in Mexico studying Spanish for 11 weeks. He was ordained a transitional deacon May 14, 1994, at Mount Saint Mary’s.

His sister, Vicki Reddick of Tennessee and his mother, Polly, attended his ordination and first Mass. “I’m the first Catholic in the family,” he said. “But they are still real excited about my choice.”

Father Young celebrated his first Mass at St. Joseph’s at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 4. He is assigned to the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta as a parochial vicar.