Three priests of the Archdiocese of Atlanta will celebrate anniversaries this weekend. Monsignor Joseph G. Cassidy, Christ the King Cathedral, and James E. King, pastor of St. Anthony’s Church, Atlanta, will mark 40 years in the priesthood. Monsignor Patrick J. O’Connor, Pastor of St. Thomas More Church, Decatur, will mark his 30th anniversary as a priest.

A Mass of Thanksgiving will be held at each of the churches by the jubilarians with later receptions at which parishioners are invited.

Monsignor Cassidy was born in Flushing, Long Island, New York, on December 30, 1897. He received his seminary training at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, N.Y. Ordained to the priesthood at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, on May 26, 1923, he was appointed assistant at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Savannah, and served there until 1925, when he came as assistant at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Atlanta.

In 1929 he was appointed pastor of St. Mary’s, Rome, and in 1936, pastor of Blessed Sacrament in Savannah. He was then assigned to mission training work.

Monsignor Cassidy also served as pastor at Sacred Heart, Millegeville, St. Augustine, Thomasville, and St. Theresa in Albany before being named pastor of Christ the King Cathedral in 1945.

In 1957, he was named a consultor of then Diocese of Atlanta. When it was elevated to an archdiocese, he was renamed to the consultor’s board. He was appointed a vicar general of the archdiocese in 1962.

Msgr. Cassidy was elevated to the rank of Papal Chamberlain by Pope Pius XII on January 8, 1942, with the title of Very Reverend Monsignor. He became Right Reverend Monsignor on June 18, 1946, when he was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate. Pope Pius XII further honored Msgr. Cassidy on February 4, 1937, when he named him to the select ranks of Protonotary Apostostic.

Monsignor King was born in Troy, N.Y., May 1, 1893. He received his seminary training at St. Bernard, Rochester, Our Lady of the Angels, and St. Bonaventure, Olean, N.Y. Ordained in Albany, N.Y. on May 26, 1923, he was appointed as assistant to the Savannah Cathedral. In 1925, he was named administrator of St. Anthony’s, Atlanta.

From 1926 to 1937, he served at Athens, and for the next two years at Valdosta. In 1939, he went to Milledgeville, and two years at Athens. From 1943 to 1946, he served at Warner Robbins, and then in 1952, was appointed pastor of St. Anthony’s.

Monsignor King was named a diocesan consultor in 1957, and renamed to the archdiocesan board in May 1962. He was elevated to the rank of domestic prelate by Pope John XXIII on April 19, 1960, with the title of Right Reverend Monsignor.

Monsignor O’Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, son of P.J. and Winifred Maher O’Connor. He attended the Cathedral School and Benedictine Military Academy. In 1920 he entered Catholic University of America and graduated from there in 1924. He was valedictorian of his class. In 1928 he entered St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, Maryland and was ordained to the sacred priesthood by the Most Revered Michael J. Keyes on May 25, 1933 in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Savannah, Georgia.

Monsignor O’Connor has served in various capacities: as assistant at St. Anthony’s Church, West End, Atlanta; at St. Mary’s on The Hill in Augusta, Georgia; and in 1936 he became a permanent member of the School of Sacred Theology, assistant professor of Homiletics, professor in The Preachers’ Institute where he taught for some twenty three summer sessions assisting the Very Reverend Dr. Ignatius Smith, O.P. He was the dean of men at Catholic University, the director of the Catholic University Alumni Association, procurator of The Catholic Sisters College; and in 1950 he was appointed by the cardinals, archbishops and members of the board of trustees as the fourth director of the national Shrine of The Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. It was during his tenure of office as director of The National Shrine that the drive for some fourteen million dollars was begun and completed. In 1950 Father O’Connor was elevated to the rank of Right Reverend Monsignor by the late Pope Pius XII.

When the Diocese of Atlanta was formally established, Monsignor O’Connor became the pastor of The Diocesan Shrine of The Immaculate Conception. In 1958 Monsignor was appointed the pastor of St. Thomas More Church in Decatur, Georgia.

For many years Monsignor has been the director of the Mission Apostolate for Georgia and during his tenure of office in his capacity many young men have been persuaded to come to Georgia to serve as priests in this section of the Lord’s Vineyard. Monsignor is a member of the Board of Consultors of the archdiocese and chairman of the Archdiocesan Commission on Religious Vocations.