By Monsignor Noel C. Burtenshaw

Van Buren Colley, master of camera and pen, wrote in the conclusion of his uniquely beautiful “History of the Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception” that “no one can predict how long the venerable structure will be able to withstand the ravages and vicissitudes of time, but her magnificent ‘new look’ of today gives rise to the hope that for years and generations to come the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception will stand in the very heart of the city of Atlanta reminding men of divine, eternal truths…”

That was 1954. The Shrine had just been rebeautified by her pastor, Monsignor Grady. The mother church of the city of Atlanta had a new look. On many occasions during the years since this parish church had first been dedicated in 1873, she had received “new looks.” But in 1954 it was different. The occasion was splendorous. One hundred years had passed since the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary had been defined. The grand old church had cause to celebrate.

For thirty more years this home of many Atlanta Catholics would stand proudly in the center of a toweringly busy city. All was to change in the early hours of Friday, August 5, 1982. Franciscan pastor, Father Thomas J. Giblin, went to the Church after watching the red hot Atlanta Braves on television. The smoke coming from the area of the roof told the tragic story. The “Immaculate” was engulfed by fire. A mere shell was left. The entire city mourned with the parishioners of the Shrine. A sacred guardian, loving and constant, had been lost.

FIRST PASTOR

In an old register of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception the following inscription was found, “The Catholics of Atlanta have been hitherto under the charge of the pastor of Macon and occasionally visited by other clergymen of the diocese. On the 13^th of February 1951, I was appointed pastor of Atlanta by the Right Reverend F.X. Gartland, Bishop of Savannah. (Signed) J.F. O’Neill, Jr.”

Father Jeremiah F. O’Neill grew up in the famous Catholic community of Locust Grove, Georgia. He was a missionary who traveled to different parishes throughout the diocese of Charleston, which at that time encompassed the states of North and South Carolina, Georgia and parts of Florida. However, in 1850, the State of Georgia was designated as the new Diocese of Savannah and Father O’Neill, ministering as an assistant pastor in Macon was given the “mission” of Atlanta to develop. At that time, the city of Atlanta had approximately 2,600 residents.

However, when Father O’Neill arrived in his new mission, it was not a barren Catholic city. In fact, a small wooden church was already in existence known as the church of the Immaculate Conception. It had been built three years before in 1848 by an Irish missionary, Father John Barry. That first church was erected on the present site of the Immaculate Conception.

Atlanta (or Terminus and Marthasville as it was first called) began as a city in 1837. The stake for the location of the railroad terminus was driven into the ground that year close to where the Immaculate Conception Church now stands. With the railroad came workers and settlers. Many of the new arrivals were Irish laborers. For the most part those families were Catholics.

Mass for the railroad workers was offered by priests who came from parishes in Augusta and Macon. One of those priests was probably Father Peter Whelan, well known in the Locust Grove community and a constant missionary traveler throughout the Carolinas and Georgia. The liturgy would be offered in one of the homes of the workers. Names like Lynch and McCullough were remembered as early Catholic families in the young city.

FIRST CHURCH

So when first pastor, Father Jeremiah O’Neill was assigned in 1851, he found a small, active Catholic community proudly displaying their church, a frame structure of wood. When the church was built in 1848 no name was given to it but when dedicated in 1849 by Bishop Ignatius A. Reynolds of Charleston, it was named Church of the Immaculate Conception. This little structure would serve the Catholics in Atlanta until 1873 and would become a major focal point during this period of war, bloodshed and reconstruction.

Following Father Jeremiah O’Neill, Jr., other priests came to pastor the little community in Atlanta. Father O’Neill’s uncle, for whom he was named, was pastor as were Fathers Hasson and O’Keefe. However, in 1861 a priest was appointed to the Immaculate who would indelibly stamp his name on the church and the city. He was Father Thomas O’Reilly.

FATHER THOMAS O’REILLY

Father O’Reilly, small in stature, was a giant of the pastoral, missionary life. Born in County Cavan in Ireland in 1831, he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Charleston in All Hallows College in Dublin, Ireland. He served in many parishes throughout the southern territories before his appointment to the Immaculate Conception. Father O’Reilly’s parish included not only the growing city of Atlanta, but “all surrounding missions.”

North, south, east and west the mark of this priest’s work was left. He went by rail to many cities where little groups of Catholic families were gathered. He was known in places like Dalton, Marietta, Albany, Covington, wherever he found or could gather Catholic people. In a few short years his small, sturdy figure was well known throughout his north Georgia parish.

However, the name Father Thomas O’Reilly would be best known for his heroic ministry during the Civil War.

As O’Reilly came to the Immaculate Conception, the clouds of war were gathering. The political conflict between North and South became more intense. Despite the efforts of good men and women on both sides, war was declared. This unforgettable conflict, which began in 1861 and ended in 1865, left its mark on the population of Atlanta and especially on the life of the pastor and parishioners of the Immaculate Conception.

During the siege of Atlanta in 1864, Father O’Reilly arose as a hero who was acceptable to both sides. As he ministered to soldiers in uniforms of blue and gray, he earned the trust of both sides. He requested many favors from the Union Forces during the siege and obtained those favors for a city and a people held prisoner by the surrounding, invading army.

In the autumn of 1864, the Union Army decided to destroy Atlanta. The bombardment of the city was intense. General Sherman was intent on burning the city to the ground. Father O’Reilly had offered Mass on many occasions during the siege for Catholics of the Union Army. He was well known to them. He knew that the destruction of the city was inevitable but was intent on saving as much as he could. Especially, he wanted to save his church from destruction.

O’Reilly approached Sherman through General Slocumb. His famous guarded threat is well known. “If you burn the Catholic Church, all Catholics in the ranks of the Union Army will mutiny.” But he had more to ask. Not only the Catholic Church but all the churches were to be saved. And one other thing, he wanted Atlanta’s City Hall and Court House spared, too.

CHURCHES SAVED

The request of the pastor was considered and then granted. Guards were placed around five churches as the city was destroyed. However, four of the five had to pay a price. St. Philip’s Episcopal became a stable for army horses, Central Presbyterian became a slaughterhouse for hobs to feed the army, Trinity Methodist was made a storehouse and the Immaculate Conception was used as a hospital. It was recounted by parishioners that for some years the stain of human blood could be seen on the wooden floor of the old Immaculate.

The only church left for worship was the Second Baptist. It was there on Christmas Day 1864 as Sherman continued his march to the sea that service was held in the city of Atlanta. We can only imagine the scene as war-weary Christians of all faiths came together in their only usable church to pay homage to The Child born in a stable.

In 1865, the war was finally past. But the destruction was eternally present. The little church of the Immaculate Conception had not been destroyed, but it had been severely damaged. Father O’Reilly set about reconstructing the building but to his surprise, his parishioners insisted they had a better idea. Other churches in the city were rebuilding. They wanted to do likewise. The idea gathered momentum. They would now have a new Immaculate Conception parish church.

NEW IMMACULATE

Atlanta’s leading architect, W.H. Parkins, was commissioned to draw up the plans. It was estimated that the new completed church would cost between $75,000 and $80,000. Permission was obtained and finally ground breaking was set for June 1869. The little wooden church was moved to the edge of the property and a cornerstone laying ceremony was planned for September 2, 1869.

Bishop Augustin Verot of Savannah was present for the occasion. One report stated “a large covered platform had been erected for the clergy and invited guests which also afforded seats for a large number of ladies.” The bishop offered the Mass and a sermon was preached by the well known Father A.J. Ryan, who was described as “that thunderbolt of oratory, that rainbow of poetry.” The new church would take four years to complete.

Father O’Reilly continued his ministry but the strenuous activities of the war had left the pastor in poor health. He longed to see the new Immaculate rise and was heard often to say that his one desire was to offer one Mass in the new church “before I die.”

It was not to be. Early in 1872 as the new church reached completion, Father O’Reilly left the city and went to Chalybeate Springs, Virginia hoping to regain his failing health. However, the illness proved to be terminal and the entire city of Atlanta was shocked to learn that at the age of 41, on September 6, 1872, Father O’Reilly died in Virginia.

Four days later a special car attached to the train coming from Chattanooga brought the remains of the famous pastor to Atlanta. It seemed as though the entire city turned out to greet the hero of war and peace in their city. Twenty men from the parish had gone to Virginia to accompany the body. But scores of Atlantans of every faith followed in procession as the casket was carried from the train depot to the church of the Immaculate Conception now almost completely built.

In the homily of the requiem Mass, Bishop Ignatius Persico, the new Bishop of Savannah, said, “When Atlanta was threatened by the Federals, he aided and encouraged and strengthened all without regard to denomination. To his zeal and energy is due the erection and establishment of the churches of Albany and Dalton as well as the convent and the new church in Atlanta.”

On September 10, 1872, following the Mass, the casket was taken to a vault prepared for it under the new church. Father Thomas O’Reilly had come home. Seventy-three years later on October 18, 1945 the city he loved and served, along with the five churches he saved, erected a monument to him which stands today on the grounds of City Hall.

Just one year after the death of Father O’Reilly, the grand new Gothic style church was ready for dedication. Another new ordinary had been appointed to the Diocese of Savannah, William H. Gross. On Wednesday, December 10, 1873, Bishop Gross dedicated the new church amidst great celebrations throughout the city. Work would continue on the new church for seven more years. In 1880 a new altar was added, the windows were completed and stone steps were installed.

FATHRE THOMAS FRANCIS CLEARY

That same year Bishop Gross bought a tract of land in the city for a second parish. At first this new parish was called Sts. Peter and Paul but by the turn of the century it had been renamed Sacred Heart and was moved to the present site at Peachtree and Ivy Streets.

Between the years 1872 and 1881 many different priests were appointed pastor of the Immaculate Conception. Most of them stayed just a brief time. In 1878 Father James O’Brien put finishing touches to the new building and placed sidewalks around the church and rectory.

In 1881, at the age of 28, Father Thomas Francis Cleary was appointed pastor of Immaculate Conception. Father Cleary, the son of Irish immigrant parents, was born in Augusta. The young Thomas was sent to Ireland for high school studies. He remained in Ireland and studied for the priesthood at All Hallows College in Dublin, the seminary which had educated Father O’Reilly. After completing his studies, Father Cleary returned to his native Georgia.

Father Cleary’s pastorate lasted only three years, but his popularity in the parish and the city was akin to that of Father O’Reilly. The young priest was greatly loved and his ministry touched the lives of men and women of every denomination.

In 1883 it became known that the young pastor had contracted tuberculosis. Although he was sent to Florida in an effort to regain his health, it was to no avail. Father Cleary returned to Atlanta to be with his parishioners and on June 18, 1884 he died in Atlanta’s first hospital, St. Joseph’s Infirmary. So great was the esteem of the people for this man, after a requiem Mass he was buried in the vault under the church alongside of Father O’Reilly.

Back in 1866, just as the war ended and a new era of building had begun, Father O’Reilly invited the Sisters of Mercy, who were then in Savannah, to come to Atlanta and start a school in the parish. For many years, parishioners had used rooms at the church to teach classes so the hope lingered in their hearts for a formal parochial school. Four sisters arrived in 1866 and this work began.

The work of the Sisters of Mercy was an immediate success. They were warmly welcomed by the people of Atlanta and they were soon to begin, not just a day school, but also a boarding school, which would continue its operation into the new century. The boarding school finally closed in 1924. However, from the turn of the century until 1951 the Marsh Home was used for a school and convent. In 1951 the new Immaculate Conception Academy was built and another chapter of Catholic education began in the downtown parish.

One sister’s name continually finds mention in the annals of the Immaculate. She was Sister Mary Elizabeth Donelan. This lady came to the parish school in 1912 and finally left to return to her native Savannah in 1941. During those years her ministry to the families of Immaculate Conception was legendary. It was said of her that her presence in the school was characterized by “an extreme gentleness coupled with a fierceness that was most exacting when there was a question of scholarship or discipline.” The school continued at the Immaculate Conception parish until 1967 when a decline in young families coming to the old parish forced the school to close.

FATHER JOSEPH MOYLAN

The decade following the death of Father Cleary saw many changes at the Immaculate Conception. For two years Father Kirsch was pastor and then in 1886 Father Benjamin J. Keiley was named pastor. He would stay for 10 years. As the new century began, in June 1900 Father Keiley was named Bishop of Savannah. He would remain in that position until 1922. The entire city rejoiced during the pastorate of Father Keiley for he carefully installed a new bell whose sound became familiar to one and all.

Father Robert F. Kennedy came to the church in 1907 and he too made changes. He changed the lighting system from gas to electricity. Father Kennedy also began the preparations for the 50^th anniversary of the dedication of the church. Major renovations were in the plans but Father Kennedy would not be the one to implement them.

In January 1923, Father Kennedy suffered a nervous breakdown and was replaced by Father Emmet Walsh. Father Walsh spent the entire year bringing a new beauty to the old church. In December 1923, Bishop Michael J. Keyes, Bishop of Savannah, celebrated a Pontifical Mass of rededication.

Father Walsh remained at his post in Atlanta until September 1927 when he was appointed Bishop of Charleston. He would afterwards be named Bishop of Youngstown, Ohio.

A young priest named Joseph Cassidy was appointed Administrator of the Immaculate when Bishop Walsh left for Charleston, but his youth was an obstacle to his assignment as pastor. Therefore, in 1928, Bishop Keyes sent Savannah born Father Joseph Moylan to the Immaculate Conception.

Father Moylan would remain through the very difficult years of the depression. Not only were many of his parishioners unemployed, but the fiftieth anniversary renovation had put the parish in debt. Father Moylan would forever be remembered and loved for his kindness to the poor and needy who, during this difficult time, came to the doors of the church and rectory.

In 1936 Father Moylan left to become pastor of the new co-Cathedral of Christ the King on Peachtree Street in North Atlanta.

We should mention here that the Immaculate Conception Church was the mother parish for all other parishes in Atlanta. Founded directly from her were Sacred Heart, which was dedicated on its present site in 1898. Also founded was St. Anthony’s Church in 1903, Our Lady of Lourdes in 1912 and Christ the King in 1936. All of the parishes continued the expansion and founded other parishes throughout the city of Atlanta. The growth continues to this present day.

NEW ERA BEGINS

A new era began for the Immaculate Conception in 1936 when Father Joseph Smith was named pastor. Father Smith was a convert to the faith. He had been baptized at Sacred Heart church in Atlanta.

The new pastor demonstrated during his years at Immaculate Conception that he had three great loves; his parish, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Free Cancer Home and the Trappist Monastery in Conyers. The Cancer Home was founded in 1939 and the monks came to Conyers from Kentucky in 1944. Father Smith encouraged the sisters in their work for the terminally ill and when Father James Fox was appointed First Abbot of the new monastery, he received his abbatical blessing in the sanctuary at the Immaculate Conception.

Father Smith was assigned to St. Anthony’s parish in 1951 and Monsignor James J. Grady assumed the duties of pastor.

Monsignor Grady hailed from Massachusetts as did his young assistant, Father R. Donald Kiernan. Father Kiernan arrived from the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah that same year and together the two converted northerners initiated a new era for the Immaculate Conception.

Monsignor Grady became a firm friend of the city officials and frequently Mayor William B. Hartsfield could be found joining the staff of the downtown church for lunch in the rectory.

It was clear to Monsignor Grady that renovations was needed both in the rectory and in the church. A Marian Year had been declared for 1954, the centenary of the definition of the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The pastor made plans to complete the entire work for the jubilee year. The money was raised and the new work was finished in time.

THE 1954 RENOVATION

The renovation of 1954 was very extensive. The interior and exterior was painted, the organ was rebuilt, the heating system was remodeled, pews were cleaned and finally windows were replaced. The beautiful stained glass window of the Immaculate Conception over the entrance to the church was added in 1954.

The rededication took place on June 2. Archbishop Gerald P. O’Hara was Bishop of the Savannah-Atlanta Diocese but he was also Apostolic Delegate to England. Since he could not be present he sent a letter designating the church as the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The Atlanta church has retained that title to this day.

In 1956 following the sudden death of the energetic Monsignor Grady, another Monsignor – Patrick J. O’Connor – was appointed to the Shrine. For many years Monsignor O’Connor had been a professor at Catholic University and Director of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

In 1956 the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta which, since 1950, had included the entire state of Georgia, was divided into two dioceses, Savannah in the southern half and Atlanta in the northern half. Two years later in 1958 the first Bishop of Atlanta, Bishop Francis E. Hyland, invited the Franciscan Fathers to take charge of the Shrine, which at the time had approximately 100 families on the parish register. Father Leonard Kelly, O.F.M. was the first Franciscan pastor. Many other Franciscan pastors followed him to lead Shrine parishioners including Fathers Arthur Murray, Rayner Dray, Frederick Kirchner, Arthur Schneider, Thomas Giblin and the newest pastor, Father Warren Louth.

THE CENTENARY CELEBRATION

During the pastorate of Father Arthur Murray, in 1969, the Shrine celebrated the centenary of the laying of the cornerstone of the church. With typical loving service and effort which had marked the lives of parishioners of the Shrine down the years, the people of the parish carefully, and with great dedication, beautified their church for her 100^th birthday.

Gallantly the proud Immaculate Conception church set out on her next centenary of service and outreach in the center of an Atlanta she had watched grow. All seemed well for her. She had adapted to the changes taking place around her. She had the respect and admiration of all. Then on the morning of Friday, August 6, 1982, the city awoke and the Shrine was no more.

But again the decision was made to bring new life to the old Immaculate Conception and now once more she stands proud and maternal as ever.

Van Buren Colley, loving historian of his parish, wrote “The mother church of Atlanta is old but only in years. She lives not only in the daughter-parishes which she has nurtured and to which her spirit has spread. But she has a vibrating life of her own…The Immaculate Conception parish will live forever…”

As the Mother Church is rebuilt and rededicated on May 25, 1984 it seems that she is destined to stand watchfully and caringly forever.