BY GEORGIA BULLETIN STAFF

ATLANTA--The city which has the phoenix as its unofficial symbol was fighting this week to resurrect a spirit of celebration and joy at the Centennial Olympic Games.

While a bomber struck July 27 at Centennial Olympic Park, leaving two people dead and approximately 100 injured, expressions of outrage and sorrow were mingled with determination and admiration for the grit of average citizens.

Volunteers and spectators became Olympic heroes in their own right as they continued to pack venues by the thousands, undeterred by an intended message of terror.

The pipe bomb, stuffed with nails, exploded at approximately 1:30 a.m. near a stage where a free rock concert was in progress. Alice Stubbs Hawthorne, 44, of Albany, Ga., was killed. Mehlih Uzonyol, a Turkish television cameraman, died of a heart attack after running to the scene. Among the injured were six state troopers and a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent directing people away from the bomb when it exploded.

The park is the centerpiece of the city's Olympic hospitality, partially paved with bricks bearing the names of individuals and families who bought them to support the Games. Olympic flags were flown at half-staff at all venues throughout the weekend and competitions opened with a moment of silent prayer, but the Games continued.

During a Mass celebrated in the Olympic Village July 28, Archbishop John F. Donoghue told athletes and coaches that he hoped nothing would wipe out their experience of the city's gracious spirit.

"None of us will ever forget the tragic bombing that took place a few days ago when two people died and many others were seriously injured," he said. "But I have never known anything to dampen this city's sense of hospitality, and I do hope that every one of you goes home with some memory of the kindness and the enthusiasm which typifies Atlanta and her citizens. We are, for our part, very grateful that you have come to our city and provided us with an unforgettable experience, for certainly none of us who lives here will ever forget the Summer Games of 1996."

Father Pat Bishop, a native Atlantan chosen to carry the Olympic torch, said the bombing stunned him beyond comprehension.

"There are no words to describe my reaction," he said. "You can say you're disgusted, you're angry and you're saddened, but none of those words really capture my feelings."

He spoke before every Mass at the Church of the Transfiguration in Marietta over the weekend. "I told my parishioners that every time we go to Mass it is a celebration of God's love, and that we couldn't do that specifically today without remembering what happened. I also wanted to talk directly to the children and let them know that I'm worried about the world they are inheriting. I continue to believe that by their very nature people are good. I continue to be very proud of the city and her people. Atlanta's citizens and their spirit are what makes this city so unique, and it saddens me that good people were visited by similar evil acts in Oklahoma City, New York, Cairo, London and Paris."

At all Masses Father Bishop noted increased attendance and a growing feeling of solidarity. After he spoke, the parishioners joined hands and sang, "We Shall Overcome."

"I reminded the community that Atlanta had faced other dark and dreary days," Father Bishop added, "but we always overcome whatever obstacles were in our way."

The spirit of his parishioners is a beacon of hope during this tragedy. "It is good to be with family when something like this happens," Father Bishop said. "The human spirit is remarkable; the Catholic spirit is marvelous, and the spirit of the people at Transfiguration is precious."

Father Edward Branch, campus minister at Atlanta University, said that Atlanta, in its quest to become an international city, has experienced a loss of innocence.

"The threat of bombs, shootings, violence and crime increases when you become an international city," Father Branch said. "Security becomes a great concern for a reason. It is part of the package deal. The reality of the situation is that something like this can happen anywhere, and the person or persons responsible for such a tragic act can sometimes be found within the community. As a country and as a city we'll grow from this tragedy."

Father Branch does not believe that the event will dampen the spirits of visitors or residents. "I don't think it is going to negatively affect the Games," he said. "People will be mindful of the horror of the event, but the spirit of the Games will continue."

Father John Adamski, pastor of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta, said he was "shocked and very sad" when violence ripped into the heart of the city's most popular Olympic site.

Designers of Centennial Olympic Park have created a vibrant urban park space unlike any Atlanta had before, Father Adamski said, and people embraced it immediately. "People were just having so much fun" in the park, particularly in its fountain centerpiece where hundreds of children shrieked and played in pulsing water jets hours before the bombing.

"I had been there the night before and there was such a good feeling in the park," Father Adamski said. "I'm not sure whether that memory (of the bomb) is going to stay or whether the positive experience of people is going to be so much stronger. . . Even the day afterward people wanted to go back to the park. If that spirit is out there, that bodes well."

Despite the terrorizing act, the normal contingent of Olympic volunteers appeared at the Shrine the next morning, Father Adamski said, and continued the church's Olympic program of hospitality, church tours and an outdoor water station. They also staffed St. Francis Table, a Saturday soup kitchen for the homeless. The Shrine is less than a mile from Centennial Park.

The volunteers from archdiocesan parishes and from as far away as New Zealand have been "wonderful," the pastor said. "Our Olympic memories are going to be much better than the Centennial Park incident."

Father Mario DiLella, OFM, Catholic chaplain in the Olympic Village, said athletes were remarkably unshaken, but staff and even chaplains reacted emotionally.

"I talked to several of the athletes. Strangely enough they said it did not bother them. They were able to remain focused on what they have to do." Father DiLella said.

"Some of the chaplains took it very hard and broke down and cried themselves. It is an awful tragedy. It is a terrible thing."

Father Melvin Shorter, CP, was responsible for the Saturday morning shift of chaplains inside Olympic Village. Awakened at 3 a.m. by a call from his mother in Baltimore, he first reacted with anger and fear. "I thought the Olympics were going so well. You couldn't ask for a better organized, better planned activity," he said.

Inside the Village he encountered strong reactions. One chaplain, a former Olympic athlete who took part in the 1972 Games in Munich, recalled the terrorism inflicted when Israeli athletes were massacred inside that Olympic Village, Father Shorter said.

One Australian competitor said she had been in Centennial Olympic Park Friday night and left just 15 minutes before the bomb exploded. Some of her friends were in the park when the bomb went off. "She was leaving Atlanta," he said.

Sister Susan Arcaro, rc, another Olympic Village pastoral associate, said that anger and fear were the emotions she felt once she heard about the bombing.

"I was angry that one person could have so much power to destroy the spirit of peace and joy that symbolizes the Games," she said. "Once I arrived for my shift and began to walk toward the Village, fear overtook me. I kept asking myself, 'Susan, why are you doing this?' . . . I knew the answer was that God had called me to this ministry and that I must go on."

Her days at the Olympic Village have become more stressful, she said. They have been briefed by an FBI chaplain on how to minister to athletes, coaches and staff. Additional fear and confusion have come from dozens of false bomb threats made since the Centennial Park incident.

"Our role as chaplains changed overnight," she said. "When we began our ministry we were basically a welcoming presence; now we have become a healing presence. Concern took on a new flavor and has turned into compassion and care."