OCEAN CITY – Family and friends gathered, Aug. 1, for a 50th anniversary prayer service commemorating the date of the telegram from Pope Paul VI, granting dispensation for the ordination of the world’s first quadriplegic priest in the Catholic Church.
Father William Atkinson, Order of St. Augustine (OSA), spent more than 45 years vacationing at his family’s summer residence on West Avenue, in Ocean City, and earlier on Asbury Avenue.
At age 19, he was injured in a tobogganing accident during his novitiate (the period or state of being a novice, especially in a religious order) year while studying to be an Augustinian priest. As a result of his accident, he could not move a muscle in his body, but continued his studies to become a priest without any guarantee of ordination.
Atkinson needed the pope to override canon law to be ordained, demonstrating his life, development, health, and abilities were suitable for holy orders. That came Aug. 8, 1973, with just three words in a telegram from the pope – “Atkinson Dispensation Granted.” Nine years after the accident, Feb. 2, 1974, he was ordained at his hometown parish of St. Alice’s, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
“We knew we had to honor his memory and the best way would be to return to the town that he adopted as his second home, both as a normal, healthy child, at 16th and Asbury, and then as an adult at age 19, when he was injured during his novitiate year studying to be an Augustinian priest,” said Marie Keith.
Keith came to know of Atkinson when her parish came together in a prayer service to ask for a miracle for her son, Cole, who was injured in a motorcycle accident.
After Atkinson’s accident, he spent his days on the Ocean City Boardwalk at 19th Street and under a pavilion at 20th Street, according to Keith, where he would chat with friends, relatives, and strangers on their way to the beach, hear confessions, or catch up with folks who would see him there each year.
“When the sun became too strong without a breeze, his caregiver would wheel him to the pavilion at 20th where he greeted generations of tourists,” she said. “He would welcome all who grew to know him over the years, play cards, and even hear confessions. He did all of this confined to a wheelchair with only feeling the cool breeze that would blow across his face. They were the happiest and healthiest times of his life.”
Atkinson was able to drive an electric wheelchair to move around. He required a full-time team to care for his physical needs. He relied on others to be his hands while celebrating Mass.
“God had a plan for him and for the next 30-plus years, he taught at Monsignor Bonner High School, where he had graduated from in 1963,” Keith added.
He moved to the health care unit of Villanova University, in 2004, where he died two years later.
The official cause for canonization (the process of declaring a person a saint in the Catholic Church) of Atkinson began in November 2015. He is now known as “Servant of God,” which is the first step in the process of being considered for sainthood.
Several people spoke at the Aug. 1 ceremony about how the effort for canonization began and its progress, and what Atkinson was like as a person. Several also talked about their recovery from serious medical conditions after praying to Atkinson.
Richard Heron, of Media, Pennsylvania, was Atkinson’s caretaker for 30 years. He described Atkinson as a “simple human being, who listened a lot, was shy and athletic.” Atkinson knew in high school that he wanted to become a priest.
“I went to school with him, so I knew him,” Heron said, “and was a nurse at Children’s Hospital, when I heard he was there. I saw him and asked him what he needed, and he said he needed help getting out of bed in the morning. I told him I could do that, and 30 years later, I had been his caretaker. We always stayed on top of his medical conditions because he often had breathing issues and bed sores. When he was healthy, he was at full steam. As he approached the age of 60, his stamina was less than it had been.”
At Monsignor Bonner High School for Boys, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, Atkinson taught four classes of theology a day, ran a weekday and Saturday Justice Under God (aka detention) program, was chaplain of the football team, moderated monthly school dances, and worked with students with learning differences. Many of the students and graduates were his caretakers over the years.
Keith talked about getting a call Feb. 23, 2023, requesting she get to the hospital because her son, Cole, was there. She was greeted by the hospital chaplain, who prayed with her but could not tell her if Cole was alive.
Cole, 26, had been in a horrific motorcycle accident on his way to work. He was on life support and in a coma, with nine brain bleeds and damaged lungs and kidneys.
“We needed a miracle,” she told the crowd, as she held her son’s hand tightly for support.
A friend started a prayer service to Atkinson, who Keith said shares many of the personality traits of her son. After 3 1/2 weeks in a coma, Cole opened his eyes and had a little movement on his right side.
Every day, he seemed to get better, she said.
“I got married on June 2, and he was able to walk me down the aisle,” she said. “As Cole likes to say, ‘It’s a good day to be alive.'”
Although Cole is in a wheelchair, he is able to walk, according to his mother, and continues to improve.
“My heart is so full seeing all these people here,” Atkinson’s cousin, Mary Moody, said about the crowd of 100 supporters. She was instrumental in pulling together all the material required for the cause for sainthood.
“After he (Atkinson) died, I knew we had to do something,” said Moody. “It’s taken us 17 years to get to this point, but I am so happy about where we are.”
The next steps to sainthood involve the investigation by the Congregation of Cardinals as to his worthiness and whether he lived “a life of virtue,” according to Moody.
The U.S. portion of cause for sainthood was closed in October 2021, and all relevant testimony has been delivered and accepted by the Congregation of Cardinals in Rome. Several miracles have been attributed to Atkinson and are under investigation.
“There are at least three recorded testimonies and they were forwarded to Rome in October 2021, when the Philadelphia Archdiocese portion was closed by Archbishop Perez,” Keith said. “Perez delivered them to the Congregation of Cardinals in Rome, who are now completing the investigation of approximately 400 pieces of original, copied, and typed material from newspapers, photos, and testimonies, along with the required forms that were requested to continue the cause for sainthood. The entire 16 boxes were signed, notarized, sealed, then tied.”
Those 16 boxes, which also contain testimonies from 51 individuals testifying to Atkinson’s life, will be condensed to 500 pages to be studied by the Congregation of Cardinals in Rome.
“Included in the next steps would ordinarily be the investigation of all of the writings and recorded tapes of Father Bill’s teachings, beliefs, and values,” Moody added. “Since his accident at age 19, there are no handwritten letters, notes, or recorded words that can be attributed to him. We are hoping that portion of the investigation will not take as long as some others have in the past and those who are at the same step as Father Bill.”
Once it is established that he is worthy and lived a life of virtue, Moody said Atkinson would be proclaimed “venerable,” and the process to find at least one miracle proven to be as a result of Atkinson’s intercession results in his being named “blessed.” When he reaches that title, a second miracle will be needed in order to be canonized a saint in the Catholic Church and is a decision left up to the pope.
There are also plans to move Atkinson’s burial site during the coming year to the Church of St. Thomas on the Villanova campus, so it is more accessible to the public. Supporters are also raising funds to place three sculptures of Atkinson on the Monsignor Bonner High School campus, in the Healing Garden at St. Augustine Church, in Philadelphia, and at the International Headquarters of the Augustinians in Rome. The sculpture would be of Atkinson sitting in a wheelchair with an empty chair next to him, memorializing his interactions with people.
Contact the author, Karen Knight, at kknight@cmcherald.com.
