The parish of Christ the King had been established in 1936 by Bishop Gerald O'Hara of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah in response to population growth in the suburbs to the north of Atlanta. On behalf of the diocese, O'Hara purchased several acres of land along Peachtree Road in Buckhead that had previously been owned by the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, using that group's former headquarters as a temporary church building and rectory. The following year, Atlanta was elevated to the status of co-cathedral city in the diocese, alongside Savannah, with Christ the King selected to be the co-cathedral. Work on a dedicated church building began in 1937 and continued into the next year, being dedicated in January 1939. In 1956, with the creation of the Diocese of Atlanta, Christ the King became the sole cathedral in its territory. In 1962, the diocese was elevated to the status of archdiocese, making Christ the King the seat of the region's archbishop.
The cathedral was designed in the French Gothic style by architect Henry D. Dagit Jr., though lacking in more intricate details typically associated with the style, such as flying buttresses. The primary materials used in its construction included Indiana limestone and granite and marble primarily quarried from in-state, and the interior was large enough to accommodate about 700 people. The church contains 65 stained-glass windows designed by Willet Studios of Philadelphia. As of 2012, the church had a membership of about 5,200 families. Christ the King School, an affiliated K–8 school, had a membership of over 500 students.
History
Founding and initial church building
In January 1936, Gerald O'Hara became the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah.[1] Shortly after becoming bishop, he recognized the significance that the city of Atlanta held for the diocese,[1] and he soon expressed a desire to establish a parish directly to the north of the city.[2] During the 1930s, despite the effects of the ongoing Great Depression, the Atlanta metropolitan area continued to experience steady growth, and just north of the city limits, the district of Buckhead was developing from a largely rural area to a populous suburban one.[2][note 1] As a result, in 1936,[5] O'Hara, on behalf of the diocese, purchased a 4-acre (1.6ha) property in Buckhead that a new church could be created on.[6] The property had previously been under the ownership of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.[7] A Greek Revival mansion on the property,[3] which they referred to as their "Imperial Palace", had served as their headquarters starting in 1921.[8][7][3] However, by 1936, the property had been foreclosed on, and the diocese was able to purchase the property from the holder of the mortgage,[2] an insurance company.[9] The total cost to the diocese was $35,000 (equivalent to $768,000in 2023).[10][11]
The new parish was officially established on June 15, 1936.[12] Known as Christ the King Church,[13] it was the fifth parish in the Atlanta area, following the parishes of Immaculate Conception, Sacred Heart, St. Anthony's, and Our Lady of Lourdes.[11] The mansion was converted for use as a rectory, while a temporary altar was constructed on the front porch.[14] The first mass was held two months after the parish's establishment, on August 15,[12] on the Feast of the Assumption.[11][3] The church's first pastor, Joseph Moylan, presided.[11][12] While this initial mass utilized the front porch altar, a chapel was soon constructed in the first floor of the rectory that could hold up to 220 people.[14][3] In the beginning, the parish had a membership of about 400 adults and 109 children.[15] Many of the early members of the church, such as businessman J. J. Haverty and his family, had previously been members of Sacred Heart, located in downtown Atlanta.[16] Later in the year, committees made up of parishioners were established to oversee the creation of a new church building and the establishment of a parochial school.[17][10] The total cost of these two projects was projected to be $300,000 ($6.59 million in 2023), which was paid for primarily through fundraising, which included a $50,000 ($1.1 million in 2023) donation from Haverty.[17]
As part of his focus on Atlanta, O'Hara petitioned the Holy See to change the Diocese of Savannah to the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta, with a co-cathedral to be located in Atlanta.[1] While an earlier effort led by Bishop Thomas Albert Andrew Becker to move the cathedral city entirely to Atlanta had failed, this co-cathedral proposition was accepted.[1] In 1937, the Holy See approved O'Hara's request, and Christ the King was chosen to serve as the co-cathedral,[18] on equal ranking with the existing Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah.[19][13] As part of the agreement, the bishop would reside at various times throughout the year in both cities, and Holy Week ceremonies conducted by him would alternate every year between the two co-cathedrals.[20]
Construction of the co-cathedral
Having secured a majority of the money needed for the projects, the church selected the architectural firm of Henry D. Dagit and Sons to design the new building,[21] with Henry D. Dagit Jr. serving as the project's main architect.[22][23] The firm was based in Philadelphia, where Bishop O'Hara had prior to his relocation to Savannah, and had designed over 100 churches in the area, including the St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church.[21] Moylan made several suggestions to the architects regarding the design of the building, and based on this, the firm decided that the church would be similar to the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at Rosemont College, which the firm had constructed several years prior.[21] For the Atlanta project, they used many of the same materials and hired the same craftspeople who had worked on the chapel.[21]
The construction of the building was undertaken by Griffin Construction Company, one of the oldest construction firms in the state, whose work in the city had also included The Temple.[24] The building's stained glass was made by Henry Lee Willet of Willet Studios, which was also based in Philadelphia.[25][26][27][28] However, due to funding and issues arising from World War II, the last stained-glass window would not be installed until 1952.[29]
On October 31, 1937, during the Feast of Christ the King,[30] the cornerstone for the co-cathedral was laid in a ceremony that included a blessing from O'Hara.[31][32] The following month, on November 4, O'Hara presided over the first mass to be conducted on the construction site, attracting about 400 people.[14]
Following World War II, Buckhead and the surrounding area experienced a growth in population,[41] prompting the Holy See to split the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta into two separate dioceses in 1956.[42][43] Within the newly-created Diocese of Atlanta, Christ the King became the sole cathedral.[42][43] During the early 1960s, the cathedral assisted with the development of Our Lady of Lourdes, a parish within its jurisdiction,[44] with a substantial financial donation towards the creation of a new permanent building for the church.[45] In 1962, the Diocese of Atlanta was elevated to the status of archdiocese,[46][47] and since then, Christ the King has served as the site of installation for all of subsequent archbishops.[48] The following year, William Calhoun was ordained at the church as the archdiocese's first African American priest.[49] By the end of the decade, as part of Catholic–Lutheran dialogues stemming from the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, joint Catholic–Lutheran services were conducted at the cathedral in November 1967.[50]
In 1994, the practice of perpetual adoration began at the cathedral.[51] By the mid-2000s, the cathedral had a reported membership of roughly 5,300 families,[52] In a 2012 publication, the church stated that they had a membership of about 5,200 families, while the archdiocese boasted roughly 1 million members.[40] Around 2016, Daprato Rigali Studios conducted a restoration process on the cathedral's stained-glass windows.[53] In September 2018, parishioners from around the archdiocese protested concerning the Catholic Church sex abuse cases in the United States.[54]
The cathedral is located at 2699 Peachtree Road.[13] It is at the northeast corner of the intersection of Peachtree Road and Peachtree Way,[55] on the block between the latter and East Wesley Road.[40][32] It is located within close proximity to two other large churches in the area that are also situated along Peachtree Road: the Episcopal Cathedral of Saint Philip, which serves as the cathedral for the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, and Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church.[56]
Exterior
The overall architectural style of the cathedral is French Gothic.[note 2] In a 1940 book created by the Work Projects Administration, the agency described the structure as harkening back to the designs of 13th-century cathedrals, including in its general cruciform architectural plan, though deviating with its lack of long transepts and flying buttresses.[58] The lack of intricate external details is further discussed in a 2012 biography of the cathedral, which states, "The cathedral is strikingly pure, devoid of frills and spare in its Gothic lines."[40] Partially joking about the design, Moylan, who was an Irish American, said he had chosen the simplistic design, "So no Italian priest can come in here and change everything around."[59]
The interior, consisting of a large vaulted sanctuary,[21] was designed to accommodate roughly 700 people.[14][21] The altar is made of a solid block of marble imported from Siena.[28][21] Behind the altar is a sculpture depicting the crucifixion of Jesus, made of marble,[21] and surrounded by gold mosaics.[28] The building contains 65 stained-glass windows,[40] made up of 22 principal ones and 43 smaller ones.[28] Collectively, these windows contain 201 references to stories from the Bible.[28] Architect Robert Michael Craig, in a 2012 book, stated that the windows, which are primarily blue and ruby in color, "offered a modern parallel to the illumination provided by twelfth- and thirteenth-century medallion windows in such masterpieces of the French Gothic as Chartres Cathedral."[39] Given its former status as a co-cathedral, both the church itself as well as the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Savannah are depicted in the glasswork.[38]
In 1937, the committees that had been established to oversee the construction of a new church building and the establishment of a new parochial school decided to focus their efforts on constructing the school first.[59] On April 18 of that year, a groundbreaking for this new primary school building, located on the church grounds,[61] took place.[62] As with the cathedral, it was designed by Dagit and shares the same architectural style.[63] Construction work was overseen by church member George P. Donnellan.[62] During construction, the school, which was led by the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart,[61] operated temporarily out of the rectory.[64] Construction only lasted about six months, however, and the new building was blessed by O'Hara on October 31, with classes relocating from the rectory the following month.[62][64] In November, mass celebrations were moved from the mansion to the school's auditorium.[11]
Over the next several years, the school continued to grow and add several more grades,[52] as well as high school courses.[65] However, high school classes were dropped in 1958 after the creation of St. Pius X Catholic High School.[66] In 1954, an addition to the school was constructed, and that same year, a new convent for the Grey Nuns was built.[67] The Grey Nuns would continue to operate the school until the 1990s.[68][66] Around 2003, the school underwent a major renovation project.[61] At the time, it had an enrollment of about 540 students and served as a K–8 school.[68]
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