By Gretchen Keiser

With an “urgent plea” for the prayers of the people of the archdiocese, Archbishop-Designate Eugene a. Marino took up his appointment March 15 as the third archbishop of Atlanta and the first black archbishop in the history of the U.S. Catholic Church.

Pope John Paul II appointed the new archbishop and it was formally announced in the United States by Archbishop Pio Laghi, apostolic pro-nuncio.

Visiting the archdiocese March 15 for the official announcement, the archbishop-designate returned to Washington, D.C. the same day, where he is an auxiliary bishop. His installation as archbishop of Atlanta will take place May 5.

Fifty-three years old, Bishop Marino is a member of the Josephite order, a religious order of priests and brothers dedicated to evangelization in the black community. He is a native of Biloxi, Mississippi, the sixth in a family of eight children, who was educated in Catholic schools and ordained a priest 25 years ago. Among his diverse roles in priestly life, he has been a seminary teacher, spiritual director of a seminary, an administrator of the Josephite order, an auxiliary bishop for 14 years and an official of the national Conference of Catholic Bishops since 1985.

One of 12 black bishops in the U.S., he acknowledged that there was “a symbolism to having a black as the Catholic archbishop of Atlanta at this time.” But he emphasized in a press conference and an interview that he came to be “the bishop of the archdiocese of Atlanta” and “to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” He expressed his hope that “this appointment was made because of the belief that I have the experience and the competence to lead this archdiocese well and I hope and pray to God that I do.”

Informed of the appointment through the Vatican offices in Washington, D.C. on March 7, the archbishop-designate said he reacted “with a mixture of shock and almost disbelief.”

“It was also elation,” he said. “I was thrilled to be considered.”

“It is a very significant position of service in the Church,” Bishop Marino said. “It is a great sign of hope for black people, for all minority people in our church. It is a great challenge to me to come here.”

The announcement of the archdiocese’s third archbishop came five months after the death Oct. 15, 1987 of Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan who served the diocese for 19 years.

Archbishop-Designate Marino will be returning to the Deep South where he was born and raised and, although he is not familiar with Atlanta and north Georgia, said that he feels like he’s “at home.”

“I’ve been through your airport many, many times,” he said.

In his first visit to his future archdiocese he spoke at a 20-minute press conference at the Cathedral of Christ the King and celebrated the 12:10 daily Mass at the Cathedral where those attending broke into spontaneous applause as the mass ended. Bishop Marino bowed his head when the applause failed to stop after he lifted his hands several times in acknowledgement. Later in the day he met with some of the priests of the archdiocese and toured the administrative offices at the Catholic Center, greeting staff members and workers, and mingling with a knot of people applying to become legal residents of the U.S. through the church’s legalization program.