ATLANTA _ Pope Francis named Gregory John Hartmayer of Savannah as the seventh archbishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
Hartmayer, served as the bishop of Savannah and will succeed Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, who served as Atlanta's archbishop from January 2005 to May 2019.
On the Diocese of Savannah's Facebook page, Hartmayer posted that he was "grateful and honored by the trust and confidence" placed in him by the pope.
Gregory is now the archbishop of Washington.
Hartmayer has strong Atlanta ties. He served as the pastor of St. Philip Benizi Church in Jonesboro for 15 years and, later, at Saint John Vianney Catholic Church in Lithia Springs.
A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Hartmayer was to be introduced during a news conference Thursday at the Chancery of the Archdiocese in Smyrna.
Archbishop Hartmayer's installation Mass will take place on May 5, at St. Peter Chanel Catholic Church in Roswell.
The Atlanta archdiocese has 1.2 million Catholics and covers 69 North Georgia counties, including all of metro Atlanta and Athens.
