The Society of Mary
(Marists)
The Fathers and Brothers of the Society of Mary served OLA from 1965 - 2025.
This is their story.
The founder of the Society of Mary, Jean Claude Colin, was born in southern France a year after the French Revolution in 1790. Colin, who was ordained a priest in 1816 with a group of twelve young men, pledged to found a new religious congregation. This new society, while taking its name and spirit from the Virgin Mary, would address the problems of the post-Revolutionary world.
In 1836 Pope Gregory XVI asked Colin and the new society to undertake missions to the vast area of the South Pacific from New Zealand to the Marshall Islands, from New Guinea to Tonga and beyond. His ready acceptance brought papal approbation for the priests’ branch of the Society of Mary and propelled it and Colin on to the wider world stage.
The first Marists arrived in the United States in New Orleans, Louisiana on Good Friday, April 3, 1863 during the Civil War. There they staffed a parish and a college.
On June 4, 1897, Marist Fathers arrived in Atlanta to take charge of Saints Peter and Paul Church. Because the church was not easily accessible to most of the congregation, the need for a new church was obvious. On the day of the dedication on the new church, May 1, 1898, Bishop Becker of Savannah gave a new name to the parish: the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The next step was to begin a new school. The new school, Marist College, opened its doors on Wednesday, October 2, 1901.
In 1965, Archbishop John Hallinan requested that the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers and Brothers), who had been serving at Sacred Heart Parish since 1897, relinquish that parish and assume pastoral care of Our Lady of the Assumption.
The first Marist Pastor was Rev. Thomas J. Roshetko, S.M.
The Marist had already relocated Marist College from downtown Atlanta to the current location of the Marist School on Ashford-Dunwoody Road.
In 1999 the Parish presented to the Archdiocese a plan for a permanent church and a new parish hall building. The Archdiocese of Atlanta gave its blessing, and the fundraising began. In 2003, the parish broke ground, and construction began.
On November 4, 2005 Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, S.L.D. consecrated the new church and facilities.
In October of 2024 it was announced to the parish by the Marist Provincial Superior, Very Rev. Joseph Hidelang, SM, "that we do not have Marist priests to continue to staff OLA. I recently spoke with Archbishop Hartmayer to let him know so we can arrange for pastoral care of the people of the parish. We will work on a smooth transition so that parishioners, families and visitors are well served as the parish is returned to the Archdiocese in July 2025."
On June 24, 2025 the last Marists priests departed OLA.
The last Marists to serve OLA with Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer, OFM Conv.: Father Kevin Duggan, SM (Parochial Vicar), Father Jim Duffy, SM (Pastor), Father John Ulrich, SM (In Residence), and Father Ed Sheehan, SM (In Residence).
Marist Pastors of OLA
Rev. Thomas J. Roshetko, SM, 1968-1971
Rev. Paul J. Burkort, SM, 1971-1972
Rev. Thomas A. Stokes, SM, 1972-1973
Rev. Vincent P. Brennan, SM, 1973-1976
Rev. William F. Seli, SM, 1976-1982
Rev. Edward J. Murray, SM, 1982-1988
Rev. Joseph P. Caffrey, SM, 1988-1991
Rev. Andrew G. McCormack, SM, 1991-1997
Rev. James F. McGoldrick, SM, 1997-2006
Rev. James D. Duffy, SM, 2006-2025
Marists Who Have Served OLA
Rev. Clarence Joseph Biggers, OCSO* 1967-1969
Rev. John Bolduc, SM 2012 - 2015, 2023-2024
Rev. Paul J. Burkort, SM 1969-1972
Rev. Joseph P. Caffrey, SM 1986-1990
Rev. Raymond J. Carr, SM 1999-2000
Rev. C. A. Chauve, SM 1963-1968
Rev. Hector Cruz, SM 2005-2006
Rev. Thomas C. Dowling, SM 1980-1981
Rev. Eugene J. Driscoll, SM 1974-1976
Rev. James Duffy, SM 2000-2025
Rev. Kevin Duggan, SM 2020-2025
Rev. Fortune C. Frenoy, SM 1977-1978
Rev. Charles Girard, SM 2007 - 2013
Rev. Joel Grissom, SM 2015-2020
Rev. John Hanf, SM 1977-1980
Rev. Eugene E. Hughes, SM 1994-1998, 2007-2010
Rev. Michael J. Hovan, SM 1973-1976
Rev. Desmond Hunt, SM
Rev. Joseph Hurtuk, SM 1984-1986
Rev. Francis J. Keany, SM 1968-1973
Rev. Edwin Keel, SM 2015-2019
Rev. L.P. Kellermann, SM 1968-1972
Rev. Mark Kenney, SM 1981-1984
Br. Richard V. Kirk, SM 1981-1982
Rev. John L. Jazwiecki, SM 1997-1998
Rev. Philip J. McArdle, SM 1965-1967
Rev. Andrew G. McCormack, SM 1987-1996
Rev. James F. McGoldrick, SM 1997-2006
Rev. George Meiluta, SM 1963 - 1968
Bro. Ernie Morasci, SM 2002-2015
Rev. Edward J. Murray, SM 1981-1987, 1991-1995
Rev. Thomas D. O’Donnell, SM 1982-1986, 1991-1994
Rev. Thomas Ryan, SM 1972-1973
Rev. Thomas J. Roshentko, SM 1965-1969
Rev. William F. Rowland, SM 1978-1980
Rev. Daniel J. Seccomb, SM 2001
Rev. William F. Seli, SM 1976-1982
Rev. Lawrence Schmuhl, SM 1996
Rev. Ed Sheehan, SM 2019-2024
Rev. Thomas A. Stokes, SM 1972-1974
Rev. John Sullivan, SM 2006-2015
Rev. John M. Ulrich, SM 1987-1988, 2020-2024
*Departed the Society of Mary
Parish History
Click here to learn our history.
Relics of the Altar
Click here to learn about the relics in our altar.