BY GRETCHEN KEISER

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Facing a rapid rate of growth in the Catholic population, the Archdiocese of Atlanta is embarking on the largest capital campaign in its history to raise $50 million for new schools and Catholic campus centers, and endowment funds for seminarian education and priest retirement.

Entitled "Building the Church of Tomorrow," the campaign is being formally launched March 21 and continues throughout 1997 in all parishes and missions of the archdiocese. The campaign is also structured so that a portion of the funds raised will go toward the needs of individual parishes and missions.

"The growth that is taking place is phenomenal," Archbishop John F. Donoghue said in explaining the motivation for the campaign in an archdiocese with a Catholic population of approximately 250,000 today.

"Projections are that by the year 2010 there will be anywhere from 700,000 to 1 million Catholics in this archdiocese. That is tremendous growth by anybody's measure," Archbishop Donoghue said.

At the same time, he said, Pope John Paul II has called for a new evangelization to begin in the Catholic Church worldwide in the new millennium.

"The way I see this being done (in the Archdiocese of Atlanta) is to provide what the Church has always provided," the archbishop said. "We need parishes and missions. We need schools if we are going to evangelize the young. If the Eucharist is the source and center of our Catholic life, then we need priests... Priests are absolutely essential for this new millennium."

"Every single thing is essential to this new evangelization. To encourage people in their faith, to invite people into the Church, we need facilities, as well as we need teachers, catechists, evangelists."

The $50 million goal for the campaign is divided among the following projects and priorities:

• $12 million is to be used to pay for a portion of the construction costs for five new Catholic schools. The archdiocese just announced sites for three new Catholic elementary schools, one new Catholic high school and a possible second new Catholic high school. A $60 million bond issue is also going to be used to fund the construction of these new Catholic schools. Four of the five are scheduled to open in 1999 or 2000.
• $20 million is designated to create an endowment fund for Catholic schools. The corpus of the fund is to be invested and managed, but not used. The earnings from the fund are to be used for tuition assistance for families with children in Catholic schools who cannot afford the full cost of school tuition. The earnings from the fund may also be used for quality improvements in Catholic schools.
• $3 million is to be used to build both a permanent Catholic Center on the Atlanta University campus in memory of the late Archbishop James P. Lyke, OFM, and to establish a Catholic Center at Kennesaw State University.
• $5 million is to be used for an endowment fund for the education of seminarians studying for the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Atlanta and an endowment fund for the care of archdiocesan priests in their retirement. The archdiocese currently has over 60 men in the seminary, reportedly the largest number of priestly vocations of any diocese in the U.S. This campaign would raise $3 million for an endowment fund in which the principal would be protected and the earnings used toward the cost of educating future priests of the archdiocese. A $2 million endowment fund would be created for care of retired priests, designated solely for residence and health care. Since the archdiocese marked its fortieth anniversary in 1996, a growing number of priests are approaching retirement and their care will be an ongoing need.
• $10 million is to be used for parish needs and capital reserves.

In the initial phase of the campaign, $10.9 million has already been pledged toward the $50 million goal of the archdiocese and these projects and priorities.

In addition, members of the 10 parishes involved in the initial phase have pledged an additional $7.8 million for building projects taking place at their own mission or parish.

The 10 pilot parishes are All Saints Church in Dunwoody, the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta, St. Anthony Church in Blue Ridge and Good Samaritan Mission in Ellijay, Holy Spirit Church in Atlanta, Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Atlanta, St. Andrew Church in Roswell, St. Catherine of Siena Church in Kennesaw, St. James Church in McDonough and St. Mary Mission in Jackson.

On March 21 the archbishop publicly launches the campaign with a reception at his residence for pilot parish volunteers and campaign supporters and for the priests of the archdiocese. Donald R. Keough, retired president and chief operating officer of the Coca-Cola Co., who is serving as honorary chairman of the campaign, will take part in the reception.

Unlike the Archdiocesan Annual Appeal, this campaign is directed toward major capital expenses rather than annual operating expenses. Parishioners will be asked personally to make a significant sacrificial contribution in the form of a pledge that can be fulfilled over as long as a five-year period.

The campaign will unfold during 1997 in a staggered fashion, and parishioners will be contacted during the phase involving their individual parish. The next group of parishes will begin their involvement in April.

The campaign is structured so that as funds are being raised for the archdiocesan priorities of new Catholic schools and campus centers, and endowment funds for seminarian education and priest retirement, parishes will also be raising funds for their own specific needs.

These parish needs may include building expansion, repairs and renovations, debt reduction, endowments or a base of funding for parish ministries. It is anticipated that a minimum of 20 percent of the funds raised in the campaign will be returned to parishes for these needs.

Some parishes with major capital building campaigns are linking the parish drive with the timing of the archdiocesan capital campaign. These parishes will strive to meet a higher financial goal and in the process retain a larger portion of funds raised in the parish for their own capital campaign.

For example, All Saints Church has identified $700,000 in parish projects to fund, including an addition to the parish center, a new parking lot, a new church organ and repaving of existing parish parking lots.

In outlining the goals of "Building the Church of Tomorrow," archdiocesan officials cited the importance of Catholic schools and Catholic campus ministry centers in providing a foundation in faith for children and young adults.

The $3 million designated for Catholic campus centers would provide $2.5 million toward the cost of building a 14,000-square-foot Catholic Center on the Atlanta University campus in memory of Atlanta's fourth archbishop, the late Archbishop James P. Lyke, OFM. The remaining $500,000 would be put toward the establishment of a Catholic Center at Kennesaw State University where the archdiocese has established a fledgling Catholic program.

In 1996 the archdiocese purchased a house adjacent to the Kennesaw campus and now needs to renovate it into a Catholic community and ministry center with a chapel, a Catholic library and community meeting rooms. The funds from the capital campaign would be used for renovations and an operating contingency fund.

The sites for the future Catholic schools recently identified by the archdiocese are:

• -A new Catholic elementary school in Cobb County on Post Oak Tritt Road;
• -A new Catholic elementary school in North Fulton County on Old Alabama Road;
• -A new Catholic high school near the intersection of northwest Fulton County, northeast Cobb County and southeast Cherokee County;
• -A new Catholic elementary school in Tyrone in Fayette County.

The archdiocese is also considering placing a new Catholic high school at the same location in Tyrone. Because demographic studies have shown a smaller and less concentrated Catholic population to support a Catholic high school in this area, archdiocesan officials are approaching this with more deliberation in consultation with area pastors and Catholic school principals.