Parish History

February 28, 1880 Bishop William H. Gross, CSsR, Fifth Bishop of Savannah, established the second Catholic Parish in the City of Atlanta, naming it Sts. Peter and Paul. On July 4 the new structure, located at the corner of Marietta and Alexander (now Ivan Allen Blvd.) Streets, was Dedicated by Bishop Gross after a large procession from Immaculate Conception Church. Later a School was established and staffed by the Religious Sisters of Mercy.

 St. Joseph’s Infirmary was established on Baker Street. The Religious Sisters of Mercy nursed the sick and the poor there. St. Joseph’s Hospital moves to Peachtree-Dunwoody Road in 1978.

May 6, 1897 Bishop Thomas A. Becker, Sixth Bishop of Savannah, entrusts the parishioners of Sts. Peter and Paul to the care of Marist priests.

November 21, 1897 Cornerstone was laid with grand ceremony, Bishop Becker presided, and Father Benjamin Keiley (formerly a Pastor of Immaculate Conception and later the Seventh Bishop of Savannah) preached.

May 1, 1898 Bishop Becker dedicates the new Church designed by Atlanta Architect Walter T. Downing. Bishop Gross changed the parish's Titular Patron to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in keeping with the increasingly popular devotion at the time.

1899 The first Organ, a Hook and Hastings, was installed and blessed in a much smaller choir loft underneath the Rose Window. An inaugural concert took place on May 5 with Rossini's Stabat Mater highlighted.

1902 The Stained Glass Windows, 28 in all, from Mayer Studios of Munich and New York, are installed. Several storied surnames of early Atlanta Catholics are inscribed in donated windows, such as Spalding and Haverty, along with the names of two Marists, Bishops Gunn and Keyes.

The Choir Loft is expanded, extending it into the nave and over the interior entrance of the church.

1907 The church experiences its first renovation. Exteriorly, the originally shingled steeples are faced with copper. Interiorly, the Austrian artist, Paulo Pavesich, who had frescoed Atlanta’s Grand Theatre, Terminal Station and the home of S. M. Inman, frescoed the walls of the Church. (Mr. Pavesich went on to decorate the home of Marshall Field in Chicago and the State Capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska.) He painted the apse of Sacred Heart with a lattice design, melding colors of ivory, violet and gold. The curved altar walls were done in a tapestry design with oriental shades. In addition, a new Altar is installed behind the previous one to increase its size.

1908 Six Confessionals were installed, faced with carved Philippine Mahogany.

1909 The Sisters of St. Joseph open Sacred Heart Elementary School.

1911 The Pastor, Rev. John E. Gunn, is named the Sixth Bishop of the Diocese of Natchez (now the Diocese of Jackson) in Mississippi, by Pope St. Pius X. He was consecrated Bishop here at Sacred Heart on August 29 by the Archbishop of New Orleans and the Bishops of Mobile and Little Rock assisting.

1912 The City of Atlanta graded and raised Ivy Street (now Peachtree Center Ave.), making the Church’s front doors street level, disappearing the granite steps underneath the sidewalk.

1913 The Sisters of St. Joseph open Sacred Heart High School for Girls.

1914 The First Rectory was built and blessed on March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph

1917 Another interior renovation takes place at the same time as the current Sacristy is added on to the back of the Church. A new Fresco of gold tapestry design with an image of Christ ascending into heaven while exposing his Sacred Heart, is painted in the apse. Beautiful faux stone was frescoed onto the walls throughout the Sanctuary and Nave. New lighting is hung from the ceiling.

1918 The Spanish Flu Pandemic strikes, forcing Mass to be celebrated outside on the steps of the Rectory, alongside the Church.

June 9, 1920 With the building renovated twice over and now paid in full, a Consecration Liturgy was celebrated on June 9, by Bishop Edward Allen of Mobile, assisted by Bishop Benjamin Keiley of Savannah.

February 8, 1923 The second Organ, an E. M. Skinner, was installed and blessed.

1939 Another renovation of the Interior begins with the nave’s walls and ceiling being whitewashed. And the mural in the apse saw its 3rd iteration, to reflect the “art deco” style of the day. This is the same mural we see now. But the artist is unknown.

The upper half of the Altar is dismantled, and the Tabernacle removed, along with the brass domed cupola that housed the brass Crucifix. In its place is installed a new Tabernacle (which we see today), and an oversized Crucifix with curtains behind and a rounded curtained canopy above to frame it.

1950 The rounded curtain canopy is squared-off.

1955 The squared-off curtain canopy is replaced by the wooden Baldachin of a Victorian Style.

July 2, 1956 Pope Pius XII creates the Diocese of Atlanta, covering the northern half of Georgia.

March 13, 1961 The Copper Steeples are replaced. Soon after, the front of the Church is refaced, and the Cornerstone is refashioned.

1962 Pope John XXIII elevates the Diocese of Atlanta to an Archdiocese on February 10. In the Spring, Marist College moves north to Ashford-Dunwoody Road, and becomes known as Marist School.

1965 The Marist Fathers leave Sacred Heart and are given pastoral care of Our Lady of the Assumption parish, near Marist School; Archdiocesan Clergy resume pastoral care of Sacred Heart Church on September 5.

1968 The liturgical requirements of Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy required the installation of a free-standing Altar so that the Priest-celebrant could face the people to pray Mass with them, rather than for them; however, nothing was done to remove the old Altar.

The first regularly scheduled Mass in Spanish within the Archdiocese of Atlanta begins at Sacred Heart Church in November.

1975 A third Organ, a Fratelli Ruffatti, was installed and blessed.

May 13, 1976 Sacred Heart Church is entered into the National Register of Historic Places.

1977 A new Building is erected to house Parish Offices and a Rectory for Priests in April. And another Renovation of the Church interior begins: new parquet flooring is installed underneath the pews, the apse’s mural is touched-up, and the ceiling and walls are again whitewashed.

1978 Sacred Heart Church was damaged by a Fire Bomb thrown through a basement window.

1980 The Centennial of the Parish’s February 28, 1880 founding is celebrated.

1982 A fourth Organ, a custom-built digital Allen Organ, is installed and blessed.

1990 Another Interior Refresh takes place: Column capitals are gilded and a new Altar, though still moveable, made of wood and marble, is installed and then dedicated by Archbishop James Lyke.

June 12, 1995 Mother Theresa of Calcutta celebrates Mass at Sacred Heart, when visiting Atlanta for the opening of her Sisters’ “Gift of Grace House” within our parish boundaries. These Missionary Sisters of Charity minister to homeless women with HIV to this day.

1996 Sacred Heart hosts Catholic visitors to Atlanta for the XXVI Olympiad Summer Games.

1998 Sacred Heart celebrates the Centenary of the Church’s May 1, 1898 Dedication.

2002 A fifth Organ, a Stanley Scheer, is installed and blessed on December 18, with an inaugural concert by Parish Organist, Billy Krape. The front row pipes are from the 1899 Organ and are repainted to original specs.

2009 Stained Glass Windows are reconditioned, and exterior protection is installed.

2010 Pope Benedict XVI elevated The Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church to a Minor Basilica on February 22. A Mass of Elevation was celebrated on August 10, by Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory.

2011 Inspired by Faith Campaign completes renovations of the 1977 Building’s 1st Floor O’Hagan Hall, Commercial Kitchen, Faith Formation Meeting Rooms and Glass-roofed Atrium; also in the 2nd Floor Parish Offices and in the 3rd Floor Rectory.

2017 Save the Spires Campaign was inaugurated once it is found that the interior mortar of the spires was crumbling. This is a major undertaking to, quite literally, save the spires from collapse.

2020 The COVID-19 Pandemic wreaks havoc across the globe, causing Sacred Heart, like everywhere else, to suspend public operations. However, with new technologies available, the parish makes every effort to maintain connection with and among parishioners who must shelter in place.

2021 A new HVAC system is installed, replacing the 1950s system that had lasted well beyond its allotted time.

2023 The 125th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Church is celebrated in various ways between November 2022 and May 2023. The Laying of the Cornerstone 125 years before is commemorated with a Tree-Planting in November. An Advent Lessons & Carols followed by a Gaudeamus Reception is held in December. A Valentine "Parti Gras" Masquerade Ball is held in February. A series of Church Tours offered to the larger community takes place in March. A Mass commemorating the May 1, 1898 Dedication of the Church is celebrated on Sunday, April 30, with the archdioceses’ newest Auxiliary Bishop, John N. Tran, presiding. And in May, a Time Capsule is buried with many of interesting things inside for our successors to open and enjoy 125 years from now, in the year 2148.

July 15, 2024 Work began on the interior church redecoration project, For Such a Time as This.

October 24, 2025 Work was completed on the interior church redecoration project.

November 16, 2025 Dedication of the church and altar - Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer, OFM, Conv.