BY ERIKA ANDERSON

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Msgr. Peter Dora, vicar general of the archdiocese, built his first computer from a home kit in 1975.

Now, 23 years later, Msgr. Dora’s love of computers has evolved into his position as webmaster of the archdiocesan web page, which just celebrated its third year on the World Wide Web.

The Archdiocese of Atlanta was one of the first five dioceses in the world to create a web page. Msgr. Dora said it began as his “pet project.”

“It has now evolved from being a glorified information brochure into a broad-based communication project from the archdiocese to a variety of audiences,” he said.

Msgr. Dora said the website receives hits from archdiocesan Catholics, Catholics from other parts of the country who are relocating to Atlanta and non-Catholics who are curious and may be pursuing an interest in joining the church. The page also receives visitors from around the world and researchers interested in historical data.

A visitor to the website can browse through a variety of topics located in the page’s 1,715 files. A new and improved search engine allows a viewer to find information using only key words. A web surfer can access information about the priests of the archdiocese, various ministries and offices, parishes, schools and historical facts about the archdiocese. One can also find biographical information about Archbishop John F. Donoghue and former bishops and archbishops of Atlanta.

There are also links to local Catholic websites, including the young adult ministry home page and St. Vincent de Paul web page. A calendar of events is accessible from the web page, as well as stories and information published in The Georgia Bulletin.

Msgr. Dora said that the web page has been a lovely surprise.

“It’s flexible, universal and inexpensive,” he said. “We spend less than $1,000 a year for commercial web hosting.”

Msgr. Dora also said that Father David Talley, archdiocesan director of vocations, has had a response through the website of men interested in pursuing a priestly vocation.

The web page has a “visual cohesiveness which ripples through the whole page,” Msgr. Dora said. The crest of the archdiocese is located at the top of each page, followed by a blue line and the specific information for that file. Each page also has a link back to the home page.

“From the viewpoint of a webmaster, outlinks are not desirable, because they are an invitation to go away and not come back,” Msgr. Dora said. “The impetus of designing a web page is to make it a self-contained world or adventure or resource where people will stay for awhile.”

Msgr. Dora, who is a former editor of The Georgia Bulletin and director of communications for the archdiocese, said that web designing is another step in his ministry.

“My priestly ministry has always included in one way or another something of communication arts,” he said. “But the Internet takes us in directions not accessible except through the choice of the viewer.”

Msgr. Dora has been interested in computers since he was 11 years old and his father arranged a tour at the computer facility where he worked.

“The central processing unit filled an entire floor of a large building and was run by a wild looking genius,” he said. “Today my watch has more computing power than that unit.”

He continued his interest and built his own computer in 1975 and wrote his own word processing software for the home built unit. He is now on computer number 13.

“A personal experience that I’ve had to grapple with is that these computers can overwhelm you and eat up all your time and attention,” he said. “You can use a computer for your own sake or you can use it to accomplish a task. You have to move your thinking from toy to tool.”

As far as the archdiocese’s website, Msgr. Dora would like to see it have even more visitors.

“I would like to see it become a visible artifact of the archdiocese in the same way that buildings and community organizations do,” he said. “It certainly doesn’t contain the spiritual aspect of the church, but it can reinforce the teaching and community building of the archdiocese.”

The website for the Archdiocese of Atlanta is located at www.archatl.com.

WEBMASTER -- Monsignor Peter Dora oversees the Archdiocese of Atlanta website.
Photo by Michael Alexander