Being substitute host for NCEA poses few problems, says archbishop

Published: 2006-04-20

ATLANTA (CNS) -- Easter Week is usually a slower time for Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta. There may be the occasional confirmation at a parish, but parishes themselves have also slowed down after the rush of Holy Week. "Not this time," Archbishop Gregory said. Within a few months after Hurricane Katrina had submerged much of New Orleans, rendering it unsuitable to host the National Catholic Educational Association's 103rd annual convention as planned, NCEA officials looked to Atlanta as a substitute host. "I got the word that they were looking for a venue, and they wanted to keep it in the South," the archbishop told Catholic News Service after an April 19 breakfast sponsored by the William H. Sadlier textbook publishing company that honored national and archdiocesan educators. "We're still a young diocese" -- Atlanta was established as a diocese in 1956 and made an archdiocese in 1962 -- "and they had never visited Atlanta," Archbishop Gregory said.

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