Local News Archive

Print Issue: March 28, 2002

Father Brian Higgins Named New Vocations Director

By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer

ATLANTA-Father Brian Higgins has been named as vocations director for the archdiocese. The appointment was effective March 22.

Father Higgins, 36, who was ordained to the priesthood in 1999, was previously serving his first assignment as a parochial vicar at the Cathedral of Christ the King.

A native of Kansas City, Mo., who was raised in Dunwoody, Father Higgins earned a bachelor's degree in English and secondary education in 1989 from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan. He earned his master of divinity degree from Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., in 1999.

One of nine children, Father Higgins' prior work included teaching religious education for six years to persons with disabilities at St. Jude the Apostle Church, Atlanta, and working as a reporter and photographer for the Atchison Daily Globe in Kansas. He was in the landscaping business for nine seasons, working for Post Properties, and also worked for three years in the golf department at a resort in San Destin, Fla.

Father Higgins said he hopes to reach out to Catholics on a local level.

"In a city of 4 million people, I think that the majority of vocations can be found here in our city," he said. "I'm looking for men who are dedicated to serving Christ and his people, who are dedicated to prayer, to the Eucharist and the Blessed Mother and who are faithful to the magisterium."

The new vocations director also hopes to reach out to the youth, from elementary school age children to high school students.

"I'm just hoping to bring an infectious love for the priesthood," he said.