BY C.S. DRAKE

ATLANTA--Father Hernan Quevedo has recently joined the staff at the Cathedral of Christ the King from Colombia, South America, where he was ordained Jan. 11 by Octavio Ruiz Arenas, auxiliary bishop of Bogota.

Father Quevedo, 31, celebrated his first Mass the day after his ordination, in his home parish, Santa Magarita Maria, the church in Bogota where he was baptized. Prior to priesthood, he spent approximately a year and a half in Georgia, serving a year at Our Lady of the Americas Mission in Doraville and about six months at St. Mark's Church in Clarksville. Before seminary, Father Quevedo had spent four years teaching Bogota high school students philosophy and morals.

"My vocation is a little difficult," Father Quevedo admits, "because although my family is very Catholic, we had no priest, no sisters. But for me, the decision was very strong."

The youngest of 10 siblings, he made his decision to become a priest while attending the University of Bogota, an environment he describes as communist. He attended seminary at the Missionary of the Sacred Heart from 1984 to 1991 and has a diploma in theology. He is licensed in philosophy and canon law.

For him, Father Richard Kieran, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Atlanta, is "a bridge for my life." In 1994 Father Kieran went to Bogota and met Father Quevedo through a canon lawyer, Rafael Gomez, Ph.D.

Father Quevedo, who was born and raised in Bogota, worked for seven years as a volunteer in the community, preparing children for first Communion, counseling couples about to be married, and visiting the sick, including AIDS patients. "This experience," he believes, "is good preparation for doing any work in the church."

He holds particular concern for children who live in the streets of Bogota, the "gamines" who leave home because of physical violence, sexual abuse, hunger and other serious problems. These youngsters, ranging in age from five to 12 years old, go door to door begging for food. Students like him provide social services, medical and dental care, clothing and schooling. Turning these young lives around gives the students of various disciplines a unique sense of accomplishment.

He served for six months as a deacon at St. Mark's in Clarkesville where he discovered "a large young Spanish community." He also spent a year at the Doraville mission, preparing liturgy and readying people for baptism and Communion. He has seen, in his work here, that people from different cultures express their faith in different ways.

His experiences in Georgia, he says, have "opened my heart and changed my life." The two most important elements for him are the Eucharist and confession, which he describes as "the backbone of life."

Currently Father Quevedo's biggest challenge is mastering English. In addition to his duties as a parochial vicar at the Cathedral, he spends six to seven hours every weekday in language classes at Georgia Tech. His progress appears to be rapido. While a youth in Bogota, he enjoyed playing sports, especially soccer and basketball, and has a strong affinity for the medical sciences. He is also interested in psychology.