Honestly And Truly: He COULD Be A Saint!

Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School in Drexel Hill (Delaware County) will welcome relatives, friends, and colleagues of Father William Atkinson, O.S.A., to speak at an evening community gathering about his life and cause for Sainthood.

Speakers will include: Mrs. Joan Mullen, Father Atkinson’s sister; Mrs. Janine Zozaya, Father Atkinson’s niece; Mr. Ralph Celedonio, Father Atkinson’s colleague at Monsignor Bonner; and Father Robert Hagan, O.S.A. and Father Frank Horn, O.S.A., priests from the Order of Saint Augustine. Each representative will speak on a different aspect of Father Atkinson's life and on the current proceedings in the cause for Sainthood.

 

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

7:00 p.m.

Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School

Anthony Frederico Auditorium

403 North Lansdowne Avenue

Drexel Hill, PA 19026 (Delaware County)

Biographical Information Regarding Reverend William Atkinson, O.S.A.

 

Reverend William Atkinson, O.S.A, was born in 1946. He was a Philadelphia area native. In addition to Monsignor Bonner, he also attended the former Saint Alice Parish Elementary School in Upper Darby (Delaware County). During his time as a novice in the Augustinians in 1965, Father Atkinson broke his spine in a tobogganing accident, which caused him to spend the rest of his adult life as a quadriplegic.

In 1974, after continuing his studies and receiving special permission from Pope Paul VI, he became the first quadriplegic ordained to the Roman Catholic Priesthood. He spent 30 years teaching at his alma mater, Monsignor Bonner. In 2006, he died at the age of 60. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops endorsed his cause for Sainthood in 2015 and Archbishop Chaput formally opened his cause for sainthood this past April with celebration of the formal rite for the beginning of the beatification and canonization process. The celebration was held on the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Augustine. 

Note: For more information on the cause of sainthood for Father Atkinson please visit, http://www.augustinian.org/the-cause/. For information about Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, please visit http://www.aopcatholicschools.org/. For information about Faith in the Future please visit http://faithinthefuture.com/.