By Msgr. Noel C. Burtenshaw

When finally the history of North Georgia Catholics is written down, in some far distant day, there at the heart of it all, throbbing with color and excitement, will be the tales of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the mother church of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

In October 1969, as the new diocese was just approaching its fifteenth year, the grand old Shrine was celebrating a centenary of service. For 100 years that remarkable parish church had welcomed Atlantans, new and old, into the daily activities of its historic ministry. But that’s not quite the full story either.

The present building first became a reality in 1869, but long before that, Catholics were coming together for celebration and service at the “I.C.”

The first written records of the Shrine go back to 1846. In those years, missionaries from more established areas like Augusta and Macon came to seek out Catholics, mostly railroad workers, and offer Eucharist and instruction to them. The first frame building, erected on the present site, came into being in 1848 and three yeas later – after Savannah had been named the Diocese of the State of Georgia in 1850 – Father Jeremiah O’Neill became first fulltime pastor. The “I.C.” was on its way.

Although the 1850s was a time of bounteous cotton crops and prosperity for Georgia, war among the states was brewing. In 1860 Atlantans voted for peace and union, but to no avail. The Civil War became a fact and Atlanta’s Shrine would play a major role in this awful Southern drama.

In 1861, a gentle and kindly young man arrived to be the war-time pastor of the Shrine. He was Father Thomas O’Reilly. Father O’Reilly had been ordained in All Hallows College in Dublin, Ireland and immediately came to the missionary South to serve. All Hallows was founded in 1845, so it would seem that this young man, destined to play a major role in Atlanta’s history, was one of the first graduates of the college.

From this little plain church on Hunter Street (now Martin Luther King Dr.) O’Reilly ministered to boys in blue and grey impartially. As the Federal armies pressed their ruthless drive closer to the city, the list of causalities grew each day. Forty thousand wounded flooded the city’s hospitals and Father Thomas O’Reilly was noted for his constant service to the sick and the young men of both armies brought in from the battlefield to die.

On September 2, 1864, General Sherman, determined to raze the state of Georgia in his march to the sea, captured the city of Atlanta. Catholics from this conquering army of occupation flocked to the little church as Father O’Reilly became a firm favorite of the Union Army. In November, as Sherman decided to move on, the decision to destroy Atlanta was made. The city would be burned to the ground. But Father Thomas O’Reilly had other ideas. Approaching the General he “protested” the burning and demanded that the city’s churches be left intact. Sherman agreed (fearing mutiny some say) and the five churches were saved. They were: St. Philip’s Episcopal, Trinity Methodist, Second Baptist, Central Presbyterian and his own parish church. Many years later, in 1945, this historic moment would be remembered in a plaque commemorating Father O’Reilly’s action, erected on the grounds of City Hall in Atlanta.

Sherman left. The war ended. And from the ashes, Atlanta once more rose up. New buildings and businesses came into existence and Father O’Reilly’s parishioners decided it was time for the Immaculate Conception to build too. They wanted a new church. W.H. Parkins, an Atlanta architect, was hired and in June 1869, ground was broken. It would be competed in December 1873, but Father O'Reilly would not see it. After those years of war-time service, his health in ruins, he died in 1872 at the age of 41.

Many great pastors would follow in the footsteps of this hero. There was the popular Father Thomas Francis Cleary, the ex-Confederate soldier Benjamin Keiley who would become Bishop of Savannah, Father James O’Brien who brought the Sisters of Mercy to Courtland Street where they began St. Joseph’s Infirmary. Father Emmett Walsh, future Bishop of Charleston, was pastor when the “I.C.” celebrated its golden jubilee. Father Joseph Smith became pastor and in 1938 helped found the Cancer Home in its present location. Monsignor Joseph Moylan, famed priest of Savannah and Atlanta, was pastor, but Monsignor Joseph Cassidy, presently Atlanta’s senior priest, was only administrator of the grand old Shrine – at the time his youth forbade the honor of pastor.

At times when renovation was needed, two great Atlanta priests were leaders of the downtown mother church, Monsignors James Grady and P.J. O’Connor. All these priests of Georgia knew the honor of service this first church of Atlanta.

In 1958, just two years after the foundation of the Diocese of Atlanta, the Franciscan Friars brought the spirit of St. Francis to the Shrine. The ministry goes on as this grand old church stands as a downtown landmark for all Atlanta to see.

As the Diocese of Atlanta celebrates 25 years, the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception has started on its second hundred years.

Georgia’s only Shrine is a proud parish still serving God’s people.