Thursday, March 3, 2005 FEATURE Southern Cross, Page 3 The enduring parish of Saint Peter Claver, Macon, continues to “bloom”

hen Saint Peter Claver Church was founded in Macon, there was no Wannual Cherry Blossom Festival, but there were black Catholics who needed their own church in their own community. In 1892, many years be- fore tourists began traveling to Macon each spring to see its 275,000 Yoshino Cherry trees, Jesuit priests from Saint Stanislaus Seminary were saying Mass for the city’s African-American Catholics. One of those priests—Father Michael Kenny—returning to Macon in 1902 after being away for ten years, was disappointed that so little was being done to sus- tain the faith of Macon’s black Catholics.

A man seeking re- moved to the school building when sults, Father Kenny it was completed in 1904. was soon teach- Saint Peter Claver Parish remained ing Catholic cat- the responsibility of the Society of echism to black Jesus for the next decade. Jesuit children in pri- priests who followed Father Kenny vate homes and as pastors of Saint Peter Claver Ca- earning the ap- tholic Church were Fathers Rene probation of Macready, SJ (1904-1905); A.B. Fox, Rita H. DeLorme Bishop SJ (1906-1907); Theo Beurme, SJ Benjamin J. (1908) and Alfred Latiolais, SJ Photos of Saint Peter Claver and Keiley of the Diocese of Savannah. (1909-1914). Very Reverend Ignatius Lissner, SMA, In late 1902, Bishop Keiley wrote The SMAs arrive are from the Silver Jubilee of the that he was “delighted” with Ken- In response to an appeal from Colored Missions of Georgia, pub- lished by the Society of African ny’s efforts and promised to send Bishop Keiley to the Society of Missions in 1932. Franciscan Sisters to help him. On African Missioners, Father Ignatius January 10, 1903, a property be- Lissner, SMA, was summoned from building was constructed of brick longing to the Episcopal Church a fund-raising tour of the United because Father Lissner was taking that included a small chapel was States to survey the situation in no chances. Having lost a church in sold to the Jesuit Order for $200. Macon. In 1913, Father Joseph A. Savannah to fire, Lissner was de- Following Jesuit tradition, the mis- Dahlent, SMA, was sent to Macon to termined to have no repetition of sion church was first called assume responsibility for Saint that unfortunate happening. Father “Sacred Heart,” although its name Peter Claver Church and School. Dahlent was named manager of the was shortly afterward changed to Three girls trained at Rock Castle school and was assisted by four Saint Peter Claver. Father Kenny were hired to replace the Sisters of female teachers during the school’s became the little mission church’s Mercy who had been withdrawn first year. A large classroom in the first pastor. from Saint Peter Claver School. In school was used for church servic- came under diocesan aegis are Mother Drexel and the school June, 1914, the Jesuits—after losing es until the erection of a new Fathers Michael O’Sullivan, Mi- On July 8, 1903, Mother Katherine several members of their faculty at church, a project halted by scarcity chael Delea, Richard Keil, Liam Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Saint Stanislaus to yellow fever— of materials during World War I. Collins, Jim Kirchner, James Sacrament for Indian and Colored officially released the property con- (The church was completed and Walker, Brett Brannen, and Adam People signed a written agreement taining the mission church and dedicated in 1928.) In 1915, the J. Kasela, present pastor. with Father William Powers, SJ, Su- school to the Society of African Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament Saint Peter Claver Catholic perior of the Jesuit Mission of New Missions. arrived in Macon to live in the con- School is still in operation in Plea- Orleans, promising $4,000 for fund- The zealous Father Lissner, pro- vent built for them and to teach in sant Hill, though it is no longer ing of “a Catholic school for the Co- vincial of the Society of African the new school. Sisters of this order staffed by the Blessed Sacrament lored People of Macon, Georgia”. Missions in Georgia, was convinced remained in Macon until 1987. Sisters, but by Daughters of Chari- Meanwhile, impressed with the pro- that black Catholics should have Saint Peter Claver Church was ty and lay teachers. Saint Peter Cla- gress of his catechetical students, their own churches situated in their under the dedicated care of priests ver Catholic Church, built of sturdy Father Kenny was already seeking own traditionally black neighbor- of the Society of African Missions brick at Father Lissner’s direction, teachers for the projected school. hoods. In keeping with this philoso- for many years. SMA Fathers who still stands at 131 Ward Street in Kenny first asked Mother Katherine phy, Father Lissner soon turned his served at Saint Peter’s include: Macon where it serves as a re- to provide Sisters of the Blessed attention to Pleasant Hill, a histori- Fathers Ignatius Lissner, Joseph A. minder of the hardy faith of its Sacrament for Macon. When Mother cally African-American community Dahlent, Joseph A.Ehret, M. Pfla- African-American parishioners. Katherine could not obtain teachers in Macon. Asking and receiving ger, Terry Burg, F.M. Imbach, Unlike the passing blooms of this immediately, the determined priest financial support from Mother Gustave Obrecht, Alphonse Barth- month’s International Cherry Blos- asked the Sisters of Mercy, who had Katherine, Father Lissner next final- len, J. Dollinger, J.H. Martin, som Festival in Macon, Saint Peter recently left the Bibb County Public ized plans for a school, convent and Alfred Laube, Alphonse Koch, Claver’s “bloom” is of the long- School System, to supply instructors. rectory to be built on a two-acre lot Daniel J. Cannon, Patrick Begley, lasting variety. Already teaching black children in on Ward Street. Charles Patrick Canavan, John J. day- and Sunday school, Sisters M. The new Saint Peter Claver Sheehan and John Galvin. RITA H. DELORME is a volunteer in Mercedes and M. Gabriel, RSM Catholic School for Negro Children Diocesan priests arrive the Diocesan Archives. She can be began teaching children in the base- opened its doors on Monday, Diocesan priests who have reached at [email protected]. ment of the church. Their charges September 28, 1914. The two-story served Saint Peter Claver since it