Atlanta Catholic Centennial

Atlanta in two dioceses

Immaculate Conception Church, 1873

When Terminus was first definitely located in 1837 it was in the diocese of Charleston, S.C. This See, established July 12, 1820, included South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. Right Reverend John England, the first Bishop of Charleston, was still the shepherd of the Catholics who were scattered through this vast territory. Bishop England died April 11, 1842, and was succeeded by Right Reverend Ignatius A. Reynolds, who was Bishop of Charleston until his death on March 9, 1855. In 1839, Bishop England stated there were but eleven priests in Georgia. There is no record that Bishop England was ever in our city. But Bishop Reynolds was in Atlanta and dedicated the first Immaculate Conception Church. On February 22, 1848, he administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to a class of twelve.

The new Diocese of Savannah was created in 1850 by Pius IX and its first bishop, Rt. Rev. F. X. Gartland, was consecrated on September 10, 1850. Atlanta then became a part of the new See of Savannah. Bishop Gartland was in Atlanta in June, 1854. He confirmed a class of nineteen on June 28, 1854. Immediately afterwards he returned to Savannah where an epidemic of yellow fever had broken out and in less than three months he had succumbed to that dread disease while caring for the members of his flock.

The second Bishop of Savannah was the Right Reverend John Barry. When Father Barry was performing noble work in the little town of Atlanta he was pastor of Augusta and the missions attached and he was also Vicar General of the Diocese of Charleston. After the creation of the new See of Savannah he was made its Vicar General in 1853. After the death of Bishop Gartland he was administrator of the diocese and on August 2, 1857, was consecrated Bishop of Savannah. Bishop Barry was in Atlanta in 1858, and administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to a class in the first church, which he did much to organize and which he served as a missionary. He only lived two years after his consecration as bishop. He died November 21, 1859.

Before the completion of the new church three other bishops were appointed to the See of Savannah. Right Reverend Augustus Verot served from 1861 to 1870 during the trying period of the war. Right Reverend Ignatius Persico, afterwards cardinal, from 1870 to 1872, and Right Reverend William H. Gross, C. SS. R., who dedicated the present Immaculate Conception Church was consecrated April 27, 1873. He was Bishop of Savannah until 1885.

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