ATLANTA--Father John Vessels, SJ, has been appointed the new director of Ignatius House, the Jesuit retreat center at 6700 Riverside Drive, succeeding Father James Babb, SJ.

Father Vessels also announced the appointment of Robert Fitzgerald as coordinator of retreat recruiters. Fitzgerald, who recently retired from Bell South, is a member of the Cathedral of Christ the King and serves as chairman of the boards of St. Joseph's Hospital, St. Joseph's Health System and Marist School. He will work to expand the number of retreats and retreatants at Ignatius House.

The new director of Ignatius House has been on the staff since January and was appointed by the Jesuit provincial, Father James Bradley, with the approval of Archbishop John F. Donoghue. Father Vessels was the international secretary of the Apostleship of Prayer in Rome for nine years and prior to that worked as a parish priest in Sao Paulo, Brazil for 20 years. He will be assisted by Father Babb, who will remain as a retreatmaster, and by Father Vincent Malatesta, SJ, a retreatmaster who has been on the staff since 1990.

Ignatius House, according to Father Vessels, "is a school of prayer at the service of the people and parishes of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and its neighboring dioceses."

"As men and women of faith become more actively engaged in bringing Christ to the world in which they live and work, they need a prayer and spiritual lifestyle that sustains them in their day-to-day activities," Father Vessels said. "The weekend retreats at Ignatius House are designed to deepen and improve their practice of personal, community and liturgical prayer."

Ignatius House offers weekend retreats for lay men and women of all faiths. In 1996 22 retreats have been held or scheduled through December. Each retreat has a leader and team which prepares and publicizes the retreat. As coordinator of retreat recruitment and promotion, Fitzgerald will help form new teams and assist teams in organizing and promoting their retreats. An emphasis will be placed on working with parishes.

"We want to see if we can't get Ignatius House more visible and more used," Fitzgerald said. "There is nothing between here and New Orleans that from a spiritual exercises point of view is available. We should be drawing from Alabama, North Tennessee, South Carolina and even North Florida."

Ignatius House offers a silent reflective retreat based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits and an inspired spiritual writer whose exercises have endured for several hundred years as a sound guide to Christian spiritual growth and discernment. The retreat house also offers a Christian growth retreat. In November, the Christian growth retreat will be offered Nov. 8 through 10 and the silent reflective retreat will be offered Nov. 15 through 17 and Nov. 22 through 24.

Those interested in retreats may call (404) 255-0503 or write Ignatius House, 6700 Riverside Drive, NW, Atlanta 30328. Those interested in organizing retreats for a parish or group may contact Bob Fitzgerald at (404) 255-0716.