| St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
 St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church | |
| 33°46′13″N84°29′38″W / 33.77028°N 84.49389°W /33.77028; -84.49389 | |
| Location | Atlanta,Georgia |
| Address | 551 Harwell Road NW |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Website | St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church |
| History | |
| Founded | November 11, 1954 |
| Dedication | Paul of the Cross |
| Dedicated | October 23, 1960 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect | John B. Baumann |
| Style | Mid-century modern |
| Years built | 1959–1960 |
| Administration | |
| Province | Ecclesiastical Province of Atlanta |
| Archdiocese | Archdiocese of Atlanta |
St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church is aRoman Catholicchurch inAtlanta,Georgia, United States. The parish was established by thePassionists in 1954 from territory ofOur Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Like Our Lady of Lourdes, this new church was created to serveAfrican Americans in the city. In 1960, the church building, located on Harwell Road NW in western Atlanta, was dedicated. The parish also operated aparochial school that was staffed by members of theSisters of St. Joseph of Baden, Pennsylvania. The school ceased operations in 1989. In 2006, the church had a membership of over 448 families.
The church was founded in 1954.[1] In February of that year,Monsignor James Grady of theShrine of the Immaculate Conception inAtlanta contacted thePassionists of the Saint Paul of the Cross Province to discuss the possibility of that order establishing a presence in the city.[1] The Passionists approved the request to establish a mission and Grady subsequently reached out toFrancis Edward Hyland, anauxiliary bishop of theDiocese of Savannah-Atlanta.[1] On November 6, Hyland approved the name of the church, which was dedicated toPaul of the Cross, and appointedthe Reverend Emmanuel Trainor, a Passionist priest, as the church'spastor.[1] The church was officially established several days later on November 11, and on November 14, the church was announced duringMass services atOur Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Atlanta.[1] The new parish was established from the territory of Our Lady of Lourdes,[2] which at the time was the city's only parish forBlack Catholics, and many of its initial members wereAfrican Americans.[1]
The church's first mass was held on January 20, 1955, in an assembly room ofMcLendon Hospital in northwestern Atlanta.[1] Beginning in 1956, construction began on facilities for the parish.[3] In February 1958, aparochial school was dedicated, with the building also serving as achapel and a residence for the priest.[1] At the same time, aconvent for theSisters of St. Joseph of Baden, Pennsylvania, who staffed the school, was also constructed.[1] Beginning in 1959, an official church building was constructed, which was completed the following year and dedicated by Hyland on October 23, 1960.[3][1] John B. Baumann served as the architect for the church building, while construction work for all three buildings was performed by DeGive, Dunham, O’Neill.[3] Two years after the church's dedication, the parish, as well as all institutions within theArchdiocese of Atlanta, wasdesegregated by order of ArchbishopPaul John Hallinan.[1]
In 1989, the parochial school ceased operations.[1] In 1999, the parish had a membership of about 700 families, making it the largest majority-African American parish in Atlanta.[1] According to a 2006 history book on the archdiocese, the parish at the time was trying to extend its ministry toHispanic Americans, which included performing some Mass services in Spanish.[1] As a result, the congregation had become more diverse than it historically had been.[1] At the time, it had a membership of over 448 families.[1]
The church is located at 551 Harwell Road NW in western Atlanta.[3] It is situated on a 37-acre (15-hectare) property that also includes the school building and a convent.[3] It was designed in themid-century modernarchitectural style and shares many design elements with other churches constructed during the 1950s, including agable roof with a lowpitch and a veneer consisting of bricks and panels.[3] The western front of the church building consists of three sections, with a stone section flagged on either side bystained glass, which was designed byParis-based artist Jean Barillet.[3] The middle section featured a crucifix flanked by depictions of John and Mary.[3][note 1] While the north side of the church features several windows, only a single stained glass window near the altar is present on the south wall.[3] Concerning the buildings,architectural historianRobert M. Craig has said, "the buildings comprise one of the city’s most notable midcentury modernist religious complexes."[3]