BY RITA McINERNEY

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--As it was for the competitors, the years leading up to the Olympics were a time of testing and challenge for Father David Dye.

Now he looks back on the often frustrating job of defining and defending the role the Catholic Church would have as the world came to Atlanta for the Centennial Games.

Some of the successful struggles laid the groundwork for the kind of ministry Catholic chaplains have been able to provide to athletes and coaching staff in the Olympic Village. But Father Dye remains concerned that the religious dimension is peripheral to Olympic organizers.

Four years ago he was appointed by Archbishop John F. Donoghue as liaison for the archdiocese to an interfaith group created at the request of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG).

People on this task force, said Father Dye, brought "high hopes and tons of enthusiasm" to their task. That is, he added, until it became clear that ACOG, in its zeal to be politically correct, would endorse but would not be involved in any religious effort. Its interest was largely directed at venues and the Olympic Village.

As clergymen and women on the task force groped for a clear idea of what was feasible for their churches, Father Dye traveled to Barcelona where he met with Father Salvadore Pie, his Catholic counterpart at the 1992 Summer Games.

The Spanish priest talked of his own experience and it became apparent to Father Dye that the task in 1996 "was going to be (providing) chaplaincy services in the (Olympic) Village."

A former Episcopal priest who was ordained a priest for the Atlanta Archdiocese in 1992, Father Dye had the difficult task of holding fast the boundaries as to what the archdiocese could or could not take part in as Olympic Village took shape. He served in a bureaucratic environment where "nobody was understanding what Catholics were all about."

With the other clergy and with ACOG representatives at the meetings of the interfaith group, the priest felt he developed the reputation of being hard to deal with. But he believes it was necessary to hold fast to principles that are key to Catholic belief and ministry.

One letter sent to the interfaith group said, in effect, that ACOG would provide the denominations space in the Olympic Village, but to bring "your own relics."

This was an example, Father Dye said, of the "totally insensitive attitude" of ACOG, "not on purpose, but out of nonchalance, ignorance and ineptitude."

ACOG originally wanted all denominations to hold their services in one building and selected the Baptist Center on Georgia Tech's campus two doors away from the campus Catholic Center, Father Dye said. He took his stand, arguing that the archdiocese had built the Tech Catholic Center at great expense years before and that it was very much a part of the campus scene.

ACOG eventually permitted its use for Mass for Catholic athletes and team officials staying at the Village, where it is the center of Catholic ministry. Muslims also have been provided worship space at the Catholic Center. The Baptist Center serves all other denominations and faiths and is the primary Religious Services building.

The lease Archbishop Donoghue was asked to sign for the Catholic Center's use was a generic one, Father Dye recalled, which stipulated, among other things, that "all expensive objects have to be stored at the owner's expense and all symbols had to be covered."

There was no way, Father Dye said, that the archbishop could sign such a lease for that consecrated building. The one he did sign was extensively changed.

At one point, an ACOG official at the Village asked Father Dye if "daily Mass was really necessary." The priest replied that athletes, like other Catholics, "expect Mass to be offered even though they don't come." Throughout the Olympics, two daily Masses have been celebrated at the Catholic Center, along with Saturday vigil and Sunday Masses in several languages.

On the other hand, Father Dye was able to respond affirmatively to one ACOG request. When it came time to assemble a corps of priests to serve the athletes staying in the Olympic Village, "ACOG wanted us to be gender neutral and we were able to accommodate them" by nominating both priests and sisters to serve.

This was accomplished by using the term "pastoral associates," he said, to meet a Catholic stipulation and by explaining to ACOG the consecrated status of women Religious. "They insisted the chaplains (appointed) be ordained, but I was able to convince them that the sisters take vows."

The priests on duty in the Village and those who come in on a daily pass to say Mass and steep themselves in the Village atmosphere also wear their Roman collars.

This did not conform with ACOG regulations that all chaplains wear the official Olympic volunteer uniform.

"ACOG Village people could not immediately understand that priests should wear the collar. They thought we wanted to be different, not part of the team like other chaplains," Father Dye said. But the distinctly religious dress has proved to be an asset to ministry as chaplains roam the Village, he said.

"Now other chaplains say to ours, 'Everybody knows you're chaplains. Nobody knows who we are.'"

Today, four years after his work began, Father Dye has advice for the person in Sydney who takes on a like assignment to his for the Summer Games there in 2000.

"It is very important to be who we are during the Olympics."

Although the structure of the Olympic Games and the local Olympic organization provide many variables, Father Dye said, "I wouldn't want (Sydney planners) to be naive. It comes in so quickly. . . I'd like for them to continue to work off of our experience . . . to really see (the Olympics) as an opportunity to share with others the wisdom and the truth of the Catholic faith."

In particular, he said, "It paid off for us when we stuck to our principles. We would have weakened the Christian principles we stand for. By hanging tough we have communicated."

The priest is also concerned that the high ideals pursued by French Baron Pierre de Coubertin in founding the modern Olympic Games in 1896 seem to be lost.

"I think the Olympics is a wonderful international event, but I'm extremely concerned about the commercialization that has cheapened the very high ideal."

De Coubertin was insistent that the modern games be open only to amateur athletes. Now there's the Dream Team.

"I'm not sure people are assessing the message that this commercialization is sending to young people. We should be looking for the moments of real human achievement; the unknown, unsung athlete who will overcome obstacles and gain a medal or even the giving of a cup of water to a thirsty person."