Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., currently serving as Bishop of Savannah, as the new Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
Bishop Hartmayer succeeds Archbishop Wilton Gregory who led the Archdiocese until his recent appointment as Archbishop of Washington, D.C.
The new Archbishop was born on November 21, 1951, in Buffalo, New York.
According to his Vatican-provided biography, after attending the Saint Amelia School (1965) and the Cardinal O’Hara High School in Tonawanda in New York (1965 to 1969), he entered the Order of Friars Minor Conventual. He completed his novitiate in the Saint Joseph Cupertino Friary in Ellicott City, Maryland (1969 to 1970), giving his first vows on Aug. 15, 1970 and his solemn profession on Aug. 15, 1973.
The future Archbishop was awarded a baccalaureate in philosophy from the Saint Hyacinth College and Seminary in Granby, Massachusetts (1974), and carried out his ecclesiastical studies at the Saint Anthony-on-Hudson Seminary in Rensselaer in New York (1979).
As time went on, he subsequently obtained a Master of Arts in pastoral counselling from the Emmanuel College (1980) and a Master of Education in secondary Catholic school administration from Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts (1992).
He was ordained a priest on May 5, 1979 in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany, New York.
As a priest, he has held the following offices: guidance counsellor and teacher at Archbishop Curley High School, Baltimore, Maryland (1979 to 1985); guardian of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Friary and director of Archbishop Curley High School, Baltimore (1985 to 1989); definitor of the province of Saint Anthony of Padua (1988 t0 1991); guardian of the Saint Francis of Assisi Friary and director of Saint Francis High School in Athol Springs, New York (1989 to 1994); and teacher at John Carroll High School in Fort Pierce, Florida (1995).
In the Archdiocese of Atlanta, he has served as guardian of the Saint Philip Benizi Friary, parish priest of the Saint Philip Benizi parish in Jonesboro (1995 to 2010), and of the Saint John Vianney parish in Lithia Springs in Georgia (2010 to 2011); moderator (2005 to 2006) and member of both the college of consultors (2005 to 2011) and the presbyteral council, member of the Committee for the Ongoing Formation of Priests, and director of the programme for new priests (2008 to 2011).
Appointed Bishop of Savannah on July 29, 2011, he received episcopal consecration the following October 18.
Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the new Archbishop of Atlanta has been an active member of numerous committees.
