About Catholic Shrine of The Immaculate Conception · Atlanta, Georgia
The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a Roman Catholic shrine church in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, and the oldest Catholic church in north Georgia and the oldest church building standing in Atlanta. The present brick Gothic Revival structure, designed by William H. Parkins and completed in 1873, was rededicated as a diocesan shrine in 1954 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today the Shrine is a diverse, downtown parish of the Archdiocese of Atlanta known for its long history of outreach to the homeless (St. Francis Table soup kitchen and the Bashor Night Shelter), its affirming welcome of LGBT Catholics, its crypt housing the remains of Civil War-era pastor Father Thomas O'Reilly, and its sister-parish relationship with Notre Dame de la Nativité in Malfety, Haiti.
- Established
- 1848
- Patron
- The Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception
- Rector
- Rev. Joseph E. Morris (appointed Pastor effective July 1, 2024)
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Why belong here
The Shrine is the spiritual home of a remarkably diverse downtown parish that draws some 600 registered families from more than 40 ZIP codes — a community where the Gospel is lived out in direct service to people on the margins. Weekends and weekdays, the parish runs the St. Francis Table soup kitchen (one of Atlanta's largest, feeding 500–700 people every Saturday), the Morning Sandwich and Snack Ministry, a Community Market food pantry, and the winter Bashor Night Shelter in partnership with neighboring Central Presbyterian Church. It maintains a sister-parish relationship with Notre Dame de la Nativité in Malfety, Haiti, an explicit LGBT ministry born of its 1990s AIDS outreach, a Homeward Choir for men experiencing homelessness, daily noon Mass on weekdays, and an architectural and historical setting — the oldest Catholic church in Atlanta and a National Register landmark — that gives every liturgy a sense of continuity with 175 years of Catholic life in north Georgia.
Mass times at Catholic Shrine of The Immaculate Conception
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday between the 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM Masses
- By appointment during the week — call the Parish Office at 404-521-1866
Shrine History: Atlanta's Mother Catholic Church
Missionary priests from Augusta and Macon celebrated Atlanta's first Masses in the 1840s in the homes of Irish Catholic immigrants. In 1848 Father John Barry built the city's first Catholic church — a simple wood-frame structure on the corner of Lloyd and Hunter Streets (now Central Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW) — and Bishop Ignatius A. Reynolds of Charleston dedicated it in 1849 as the Church of the Immaculate Conception. In 1851 Father Jeremiah F. O'Neill Jr. became the first priest officially assigned to Atlanta, after railroad official Terrance Doonan offered to cover his expenses. The parish grew steadily through the 1850s and weathered the Civil War under Father Thomas O'Reilly, whose 1864 appeal to Union General Henry Warner Slocum saved the building from Sherman's burning of Atlanta. A larger Gothic Revival brick church by architect William H. Parkins replaced the original in 1869–1873 and remains the present Shrine.
- First Mass in Atlanta: celebrated before 1846 in private homes or a school building.
- First church building: 1848 wood-frame structure on Lloyd and Hunter Streets.
- First resident pastor: Father Jeremiah F. O'Neill Jr., 1851.
- Mother Parish of the Archdiocese of Atlanta — most historic Catholic parishes in the city were carved out of this one.
Civil War and the Saving of the Church
When Father Thomas O'Reilly took over in 1861, the parish was only 12 years old. During the war the church served as a hospital for wounded soldiers from both sides, and O'Reilly himself was commissioned a Confederate chaplain in March 1864. After General Sherman's army occupied Atlanta in September 1864, O'Reilly remained behind to minister to soldiers — including many of Sherman's Irish Catholic troops — and in November 1864 persuaded General Henry Warner Slocum to spare the church (and, with it, several nearby churches and the city hall) from the flames that preceded the March to the Sea. In 1945 the Atlanta Historical Society honored O'Reilly with a memorial near City Hall, and his remains lie today in the Shrine's crypt.
- Thomas O'Reilly — pastor 1861–c.1873, native of County Cavan, Ireland.
- Commissioned Confederate chaplain, March 16, 1864.
- Saved the church and neighboring buildings from Sherman's burners in November 1864.
- Atlanta Historical Society memorial near City Hall dedicated in 1945.
The 1873 Gothic Revival Church
By the late 1860s the original wooden church was too small for the growing congregation. In June 1869 Bishop James Whelan laid the cornerstone for a new brick church designed by the 26-year-old Atlanta architect William H. Parkins in the Gothic Revival style, with French Gothic and High Victorian Gothic elements. The finished building — with its cruciform plan, three pointed-arch doorways, rose window, buttresses, galvanized-iron pinnacles, three-story and four-story bell towers, and Virginia-slate roof — was the most impressive structure in Atlanta at the time. It was dedicated on December 10, 1873, and remains in continuous use.
- Architect: William H. Parkins (his masterwork).
- Style: Gothic Revival with French Gothic and High Victorian Gothic details.
- Cornerstone laid June 1869; completed and dedicated December 10, 1873.
20th-Century Decline, Renovation, and Shrine Status
As Atlanta's residential population shifted to the suburbs in the early 20th century, Immaculate Conception's membership declined to roughly 100 families by World War II. By the late 1940s Auxiliary Bishop Francis Edward Hyland favored selling the property, but Bishop Gerald O'Hara instead ordered a renovation, delegated to Monsignor James Grady and Donald Kiernan. The $100,000 project was finished in 1954, and on June 2 of that year — the centennial of the 1854 definition of the Immaculate Conception — Bishop O'Hara rededicated the church as a diocesan shrine. In 1956 the parish became part of the new Diocese of Atlanta, and in 1958 the Franciscans (with their long tradition as Marian-shrine custodians) took over operations.
- Renovation completed in 1954 at a cost of about $100,000.
- Designated a diocesan shrine on June 2, 1954.
- Custody transferred to the Franciscan Friars in 1958.
The 1982 Fire and Restoration
On August 6, 1982, a faulty-wiring fire broke out around 2:00 a.m. and burned for about 90 minutes, gutting the interior. The exterior brick shell survived, and the two side altars were saved, but the main altar and the rare Pilcher organ were destroyed. The Shrine's roughly $4 million restoration, led by architect Henry Howard Smith (son of Francis Palmer Smith), was completed in about two years — during which time Mass was celebrated at neighboring Central Presbyterian Church. The rededication took place on May 25, 1984.
- Fire: August 6, 1982, around 2:00 a.m.
- Architect of restoration: Henry Howard Smith.
- Rededication: May 25, 1984.
AIDS Outreach, LGBT Ministry, and the Homeless
After the Franciscans returned the parish to the Archdiocese in 1987, Father John Adamski (appointed 1988) brought new energy: he opened the crypt for public tours, launched a weekly dinner for people with AIDS that drew 100–120 guests, and in 1992 helped establish an explicit LGBT ministry with a full-time priest for AIDS work. The parish also partnered with Central Presbyterian Church next door to open a nightly emergency homeless shelter. In 1992 the Shrine's soup kitchen was feeding roughly 500 people a week.
- Father John Adamski, pastor 1988–1999.
- AIDS ministry launched in the late 1980s/early 1990s.
- LGBT ministry formally established 1992.
- Nightly homeless shelter partnership with Central Presbyterian Church.
Architecture and Interior
William H. Parkins's 1873 design is a one-story brick cruciform structure with a modified rectangular plan covering about 145 by 86 feet. The façade has three pointed-arch doorways, a rose window, a three-story cross-gabled tower on one side, a four-story bell tower with belfry on the other, buttresses, and galvanized-iron pinnacles. The roof is Virginia slate. Inside, the sanctuary is lit by 12 chandeliers, lined by about 50 stained-glass windows, and topped by a cloverleaf ceiling painting of the Twelve Apostles by Georgia artist Henry Barnes (1980s restoration). The marble main altar incorporates stone salvaged from the 1873 original, and an Italian-carved Pietà statue survived the 1982 fire. The crypt beneath the main altar holds the remains of Fathers O'Reilly and Cleary and, since 2024, Monsignor Henry C. Gracz.
- Architects: William H. Parkins (1873); Henry Howard Smith (post-fire restoration).
- Style: Gothic Revival with French Gothic and High Victorian Gothic influences.
- Approximately 50 stained-glass windows and 12 chandeliers.
- Crypt beneath the main altar holds Fathers O'Reilly, Cleary, and Msgr. Gracz.
Outreach to the Hungry: St. Francis Table
St. Francis Table began on Holy Saturday, April 10, 1982, when the Franciscans staffed the Shrine, in response to a gap in weekday meal programs — none of the downtown food ministries operated on Saturdays. Today the SFT Soup Kitchen feeds 500 to over 700 guests every Saturday from 10:00 AM to noon, with volunteers from parishes, denominations, colleges, high schools, and companies preparing sandwiches, soup (no fish or shellfish), coffee, and desserts, with much of the food purchased from or donated by the Atlanta Community Food Bank. The Morning Sandwich and Snack Ministry extends this hospitality every weekday morning at 10:00 AM, and the SFT Community Market distributes groceries to neighbors facing food insecurity.
- Saturday meal served 10:00 AM – noon in the Parish Hall (MLK entrance).
- 500–700 guests fed every Saturday.
- Funded by donations from parishioners and friends of the Shrine.
- Sister ministries: Morning Sandwich & Snack Ministry, SFT Community Market.
Bashor Night Shelter and Foot Care
Each year from November 1 through March 31, the Shrine joins a network of Atlanta churches and organizations to host the Bashor Night Shelter (formerly the Men's Night Shelter), providing shelter, dinner, sack lunches, and overnight accommodation for roughly 30 of the program's 100-plus guests on designated nights — about 30 of the season's 150 nights. Volunteers are trained to provide Wednesday-evening Foot Care during the shelter season as a way of building relationships with guests.
- Bashor Night Shelter — November 1 to March 31, hosted with Central Presbyterian Church.
- Foot Care for Shelter guests — Wednesday evenings during shelter season.
Sister Parish in Haiti
Since 2012 the Shrine has been twinned with Notre Dame de la Nativité in Malfety, Haiti, in the Diocese of Fort-Liberté — a parish founded in 1991 that includes the main church and mission chapels in Minier, Garde-Saline, and Garrot, two schools (Our Lady of the Nativity in Malfety and Immaculate Conception School in Garrot), and a small medical clinic open two days a week. The Shrine's Haiti Outreach Group sends roughly $50,000 a year to fund teacher salaries and the medical clinic, sponsors individual students, and organizes trips — three groups of parishioners have visited Haiti to date. The group meets on the second Sunday of each month after the 11:00 AM Mass.
- Sister parish: Notre Dame de la Nativité, Malfety, Haiti.
- Annual giving: about $50,000 for teacher salaries and medical clinic.
- Beneficiary community: 420 children in parish schools.
Visiting the Shrine
The Shrine sits in the South Downtown historic district at 48 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW. The most visible surviving example of Parkins's Gothic Revival work in Atlanta, the building is open to the public for weekend and weekday Masses. Disabled access is from the rear of the church on MLK Jr. Drive. Sunday parking is free on neighborhood streets when available; the Underground Parking Deck at MLK Jr. Drive and Central Avenue offers validated parking — pick up a QR code from an usher.
- Address: 48 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 30303.
- Phone: (404) 521-1866.
- Free validated parking in the Underground Parking Deck at MLK Jr. Drive and Central Avenue.
Notable Interior Features to See
Beyond the regular liturgy, visitors can take in roughly fifty stained-glass windows along the aisles, the twelve chandeliers and cloverleaf ceiling painting of the Twelve Apostles by Henry Barnes, the marble main altar (which incorporates pieces of the original 1873 altar that survived the 1982 fire), the Italian-carved Pietà statue, and the crypt beneath the main altar where Fathers O'Reilly and Cleary — and now Monsignor Gracz — are interred.
- Stained-glass windows (about 50) and 12 chandeliers.
- Pietà statue carved in Italy that survived the 1982 fire.
- Crypt of Fathers O'Reilly, Cleary, and Monsignor Gracz.
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Jeremiah F. O'Neill Jr.1851–
First priest officially assigned to Atlanta; arrived through the patronage of railroad official Terrance Doonan, who covered expenses. Atlanta's Catholic mission became a parish under his care.
- Rev. Thomas O'Reilly1861–c.1873
Irish priest from County Cavan. Pastored the parish through the entire Civil War, served as a Confederate chaplain, ministered to Union and Confederate wounded, and famously persuaded Gen. Henry Warner Slocum to spare the church from Sherman's burning of Atlanta in November 1864. Buried in the church crypt.
- Rev. Thomas Clearyafter O'Reilly
Successor to O'Reilly; buried beside him in the crypt in 1884.
- Monsignor James Gradylate 1940s–early 1950s
Co-led, with Donald Kiernan, the fundraising and $100,000 renovation that saved the church from sale and prepared it for designation as a shrine in 1954.
- Franciscan Friars (Order of Friars Minor)1958–1987
Took over operations from the Archdiocese in 1958 as custodians of the Marian shrine; returned the parish to archdiocesan control in 1987.
- Rev. John Adamski1988–1999
Appointed by the Archdiocese; restructured administration, opened the crypt for tours, launched AIDS ministry and a weekly dinner for people with AIDS, helped found an LGBT ministry in 1992 with a full-time priest, and partnered with Central Presbyterian to open a nightly homeless shelter.
- Monsignor Henry C. Gracz2001–2024 (died Feb. 5, 2024)
Native of Buffalo, NY; ordained May 8, 1965 by Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan. Continued the AIDS ministry, soup kitchen and night-shelter outreach, and built the parish's reputation as one of the most LGBT-affirming parishes in the archdiocese. Served 23 years as pastor; interred in the crypt alongside Father O'Reilly.
- Rev. Joseph E. Morris2024–present
Appointed Pastor of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Atlanta, effective July 1, 2024, by Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv.
