BY GRETCHEN KEISER

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--This may be a golden year for the city of Atlanta, but the focus for the Catholic archbishop is on the hidden treasure of Christ.

After instituting perpetual adoration of the Eucharist at the Cathedral of Christ the King a year and a half ago, Archbishop John F. Donoghue now is calling for a time of eucharistic renewal in the archdiocese.

His focus is bringing Catholics in North Georgia to a deeper understanding and experience of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

The focus, which will be called "His True Presence--A Eucharistic Renewal in the Archdiocese of Atlanta," begins in 1996 and will continue into mid-1997 with a diversity of specific efforts that are being discussed by a group of lay people and clergy formed by the archbishop around this theme.

Each pastor has been asked to recommend a parishioner to be part of an archdiocesan team for this renewal effort. These parish representatives will be invited to a retreat weekend hosted by the archdiocese in February and led by a priest whose full-time ministry is renewal through the Eucharist. These members of the archdiocese will be equipped to continue the renewal process in their parishes.

In another event, Archbishop Donoghue and Father Tim Hepburn, parochial vicar at the Cathedral, will lead a one-day "Life in the Eucharist" program open to the public in March.

These events are in preparation for an archdiocesan time of renewal that will formally begin on Corpus Christi Sunday, June 9, 1996 and extend for the next twelve months until Corpus Christi Sunday in 1997.

Archbishop Donoghue said that his years as a priest and bishop both in Atlanta and elsewhere have persuaded him that many Catholics do not know or do not grasp the teaching of the Catholic Church on the Eucharist, namely that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Eucharist which becomes his Body and Blood at the consecration of the Mass.

Young people are a particular concern, he said, because if they are not taught the doctrine of the Catholic Church effectively and also led to the experience of Christ in the Eucharist they will lose the essential heart of Catholicism and will, as a result, be lost to the Church of the future.

He cited a 1992 Gallup poll that found only one-third of U.S. Catholics polled agreed with the statement that when receiving Holy Communion they receive "the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine."

In the poll respondents were given four statements about the Eucharist, including the statement above, and asked to select the one that best reflected their belief.

One-third polled chose the statement that did not express any belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, but described Holy Communion as bread and wine "which symbolize the spirit and teachings of Jesus."

One-quarter chose a statement that "when receiving Holy Communion, you are receiving the Body and Blood of Christ which has become that because of your personal belief."

Archbishop Donoghue said that he uses each occasion when he confers confirmation on young people as an opportunity to teach on the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. "I talk about this poll," he said. "Afterward adults will come up to me and say, 'I did not know that,'" referring to the Catholic teaching on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

In his youth, the archbishop said, first Friday devotions and weekly Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament led everyone into periods of silent prayer in the presence of the Eucharist and helped instill an awareness and reverence in the young. He said a loss of reverent behavior in the presence of the Eucharist has also evolved in the Catholic community over time and may further erode the authority of the teaching by bad example.

The planning committee working with Archbishop Donoghue is examining a diversity of ways to try and renew the understanding of the Eucharist broadly in the Catholic community, both among adults and children, according to Keri Allen, who is chairing the committee.

The working purpose of the eucharistic renewal is "to deepen the experience and understanding of the true and real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist," said Mrs. Allen, a Cathedral of Christ the King parishioner who coordinates perpetual adoration.

As the cathedral inaugurated continuous prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament, "we saw the effect that it was having on people--that it was changing people's lives," Mrs. Allen said. "But at the same time we saw the lack of understanding that this was the true presence of Christ. Some people are unaware. Some may be aware, but they are misinformed."

The renewal is hoped to be an educational process, using many teaching avenues to inform Catholics correctly about church doctrine on the Eucharist. But, she said, the deeper longing is for more Catholics to truly experience Christ in the Eucharist "so we can worship together believing in the same presence" of Christ.

The renewal is not "trying to get back to the nostalgia of yesteryear," she said. "We want to take the Catechism (of the Catholic Church) and the Vatican II documents and focus on the Eucharist today, in the 20th century."

Director of evangelization at the cathedral, she received a master's degree in pastoral studies from the Loyola University Ministry Extension Program offered by the archdiocese through the Office of Religious Education. The committee, which began meeting in November, includes the archbishop, Msgr. Don Kenny, Father Richard Lopez and Father Hepburn, along with 10 lay members.

"The first place we are starting is with prayer," Mrs. Allen said, and the committee has asked for prayer from contemplative orders in the archdiocese, prayer and rosary groups and in the prayers of the faithful at Mass.

The parish representative for the eucharistic renewal named by each pastor will be invited to a retreat Feb. 23 through 25 given by Father Robert P. Rousseau, SSS, a priest of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament who directs the Center for Eucharistic Evangelizing in Cleveland. Father Rousseau, drawing on the charism of his order's founder, works in a ministry to bring adult Catholics deeper into relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist.

This weekend is preparatory for the archdiocesan renewal.

On Saturday, March 9, Archbishop Donoghue and Father Hepburn will give a retreat day at the Cathedral of Christ the King from 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Titled "Life in the Eucharist" the day will begin with Mass celebrated by the archbishop and include talks by both priests, time for reflection before the Blessed Sacrament and closing Benediction.