History of the Archdiocese of Atlanta

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The Catholic Church In Georgia

From a simple log church in Locust Grove, Georgia, where the faithful worshipped in 1790, the Catholic population in North Georgia has experienced steady growth. By 1820 the Catholic population had grown to 1,000 in the Carolinas and Georgia, under the leadership of Bishop John England. At the time of the Civil War, there were 4,000 Catholics in Georgia alone, with parishes in Atlanta, Savannah, Macon, Columbus and Locust Grove. A new diocese, the Diocese of Savannah, was established in 1850 and headed by Bishop Francis X. Gartland. It included all of Georgia and parts of Florida.

Post-war Atlanta had begun to rebuild. Along with the growth of the city came a growth in the Catholic population. The mother parish, the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception was soon joined by Sacred Heart Parish, established in 1879. In 1880 the Sisters of Mercy opened an infirmary on Baker Street which was to become St. Joseph's Hospital; St. Anthony's Church opened in 1903, adding a school in 1912, the same year Our Lady of Lourdes Church opened.

In 1936, the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta was established and the Co-Cathedral of Christ the King was erected. Bishop Gerald P. O'Hara, appointed Bishop of Savannah in 1935, was the last Bishop to serve the faithful of the entire state of Georgia.

The Archdiocese Of Atlanta

The Diocese of Atlanta was established in 1956. The northern 71 counties of the state were separated from the Diocese of Savannah and assigned to the new Diocese giving the state two dioceses. (The number was later reduced to 69 when two counties were returned to the jurisdiction of the Savannah Diocese.)

At the time the Diocese of Atlanta, which covered 23,000 square miles, numbered 23,600 Catholics in 23 parishes and 12 missions. The population in this region totaled 1,800,000.

In 1962 the Diocese of Atlanta was elevated to the status of Archdiocese, becoming the center of an Ecclesiastical Province which covered the states of Georgia, North and South Carolina and Florida. (Florida was detached in 1969 to become the Province of Miami). In 1962 the Catholic population of the Archdiocese numbered 32,000 out of a total population of 2,152,000.

Bishops And Archbishops

The first Bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta was Francis E. Hyland, a native of Philadelphia, who had served as Auxiliary Bishop of Savannah since 1949. He began his service to the new diocese as both the city of Atlanta and the resident Catholic population were experiencing rapid growth. At age 60 Bishop Hyland resigned because of ill health.

On February 21, 1962 the Diocese of Atlanta was elevated to the status of Archdiocese. Paul J. Hallinan, Bishop of Charleston, S.C. was named the first Archbishop of Atlanta.

Born in Painesville, Ohio, April 8, 1911, he was ordained to the priesthood in Cleveland in 1937 and served as an army chaplain in the South Pacific during World War II. He was installed as Archbishop of Atlanta on March 29, 1962. Archbishop Hallinan is best remembered for his personal dedication to the cause of social justice and his involvement in the civil rights activity of the 1960's. He was also deeply involved in the renewal of the Catholic Church, especially in the area of worship, during and following the Second Vatican Council. On March 27, 1968 Archbishop Hallinan died after a long battle with hepatitis.

During the last two years of his life Archbishop Hallinan was assisted by Auxiliary Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin, who subsequently became Cardinal-Archbishop of Chicago.

Thomas A. Donnellan was appointed the second Archbishop of Atlanta on May 24, 1968 and was installed on July 16, 1968. Archbishop Donnellan, 54 years old at the time, was a native of New York City. Prior to his Atlanta appointment he had served four years as Bishop of Ogdensburg, New York.

The population of the Atlanta Archdiocese tripled during his 19 years as Archbishop and the number of Catholics grew from 50,000 in 1968 to 175,000 today. Thirty-two parishes were established during this time. Archbishop Donnellan suffered a stroke on May 1, 1987 and died on October 15, 1987.

Bishop Eugene Marino, S.S.J., a native of Mississippi, became the third Archbishop of Atlanta on May 4, 1988, and the first Black Archbishop in the United States. He served until his resignation on July 10, 1990.

Archbishop James P. Lyke, O.F.M., was appointed as Apostolic Administrator on July 10, 1990, and then named fourth Archbishop of Atlanta on April 30, 1991. He was installed on June 24, 1991 and served until his death from cancer on December 27, 1992.

Archbishop John Francis Donoghue was appointed the fifth Archbishop of Atlanta on June 22, 1993 and was installed on August 19, 1993. He was born on August 9, 1928 in Washington, D.C. He was educated for the priesthood at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, and the Catholic University of America in Washington. He was ordained on June 4, 1955. In 1973 he was appointed by the late Cardinal Patrick O'Boyle Chancellor and Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Washington. In 1984, Pope John Paul II appointed him second Bishop of Charlotte, where he was ordained to the episcopate on December 18, 1984. He served until his retirement on December 9, 2004.

Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, S.L.D. was appointed sixth Archbishop of Atlanta on December 9, 2004 and was installed on January 17, 2005. Born December 7, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois, Archbishop Gregory is the son of Wilton (Sr.) and Ethel Duncan Gregory. He attended St. Carthage Grammar School, Quigley Preparatory Seminary South, Niles College (now St. Joseph 's College Seminary) of Loyola University, and Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary. Three years after his ordination to the priesthood he began graduate studies at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute (Sant' Anselmo) in Rome. It was there that he earned his doctorate in Sacred Liturgy in 1980.

Bishop Gregory was ordained a Catholic Priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 9, 1973. He was ordained a Bishop on December 13, 1983. Bishop Gregory was installed as the Seventh Bishop of Belleville on February 10, 1994 following ten years as Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago.

On November 13, 2001, Bishop Gregory was elected President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, following three years as Vice President under Bishop Joseph Fiorenza of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston.