It’s great to give a deacon some props — so I’m pleased to give a shout-out to a deacon in Atlanta who is doing some remarkable work with immigrants there:

As metro Atlanta continues to grow and expand culturally, the face of the Catholic Church in the local archdiocese is changing as well. The Catholic Burmese population throughout North Georgia is rising at a rapid rate, and Deacon Peter Swan of St. Philip Benizi Church, Jonesboro, has been there every step of the way to minister to the group. 

“I was contacted by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and was told of this cluster of Burmese Catholic refugees who were settled and are now attending Corpus Christi (Church),” Deacon Swan wrote in his parish bulletin. 

Corpus Christi was more than willing to welcome the new group to its parish, but the language barrier created some difficulties. Deacon Swan agreed to assist the refugees by talking with them and conveying their needs to the church.

Ordained a permanent deacon by Archbishop John F. Donoghue in 2001, Deacon Swan remembers traveling with his wife, Pansy, to the Stone Mountain parish earlier this year to meet with the Burmese group for the first time.

“After Mass, I met with the refugees. I was given a room to meet with them,” Deacon Swan said. “And then we waited. They came, first one or two at a time, and then they all poured in. They removed the chairs and sat on the floor. What a humbling gesture. There were over a hundred of them, young and old, men and women and children.”

Deacon Swan listened to the group’s fears, needs and wants. Even though he speaks Burmese, there were families from several regions of Burma, now called Myanmar, with different dialects, making the discussion a little difficult. But the needs were the same: employment, clothes, food, medical and psychological help. Many escaped their home country with nothing but the clothes on their backs, he said.

Check out the rest of the story at the Georgia Bulletin link.