WASHINGTON—Pope Francis
has appointed Father Joel Konzen, S.M, as a new auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese
of Atlanta, Georgia. Father Konzen is a member of the Society of Mary (Marists)
and currently serves as the principal of Marist School in Atlanta.

The appointment was
publicized in Washington on February 5, 2018, by Archbishop Christophe Pierre,
apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Joel Konzen was born on
November 6, 1950, in Oak Harbor, Ohio, in the Diocese of Toledo.
He attended St Meinrad College, Indiana, from 1968-1972, earning a bachelor’s
degree in English. At Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans he earned a master’s degree
in Divinity (1972-1974), and at The Catholic University of America in
Washington, D.C., he earned a master’s degree in Systematic Theology in 1978
and a master’s degree in Educational Administration in 1991.

In 1974, at Notre Dame, he
entered the Society of Mary novitiate (Washington, DC) and took first vows as a
Marist in 1975. He was ordained a priest in 1979 in New Orleans.

Assignments after
ordination include: parochial vicar, St. Edmond Parish, Lafayette, LA,
1979-1980; director of Admissions & Financial Aid, Marist School, Atlanta,
GA, 1980-1982; principal, Marist School, Atlanta, GA, 1982-1988; president,
Marist School, Atlanta, GA, 1988-1989; Vicar Provincial, Marist Center,
Washington, D.C., 1990-1992; president/principal, St. Michael’s Academy,
Austin, TX, 1992-1997; vicar provincial, Marist Center, Washington, D.C., 1997-1999;
principal, Marist School, Atlanta, GA, 1999-present. Fr. Konzen received the National Catholic Educational Association
(NCEA) Catholic Secondary Schools Department Educational Excellence Award in
2015.

The Archdiocese of Atlanta,
GA, comprises 21,445 square miles. It has a total population of 7,256,925 people
of which 1,050,000, or 14 percent, are Catholic.

—
Keywords: U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Pope Francis, Archbishop Christophe
Pierre, apostolic nuncio,
Reverend
Joel Konzen, Archdiocese of Atlanta

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Media Contact:
Judy Keane
202-541-3200

Source:: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops