2011-2020
Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv.
Gregory John Hartmayer was born in Buffalo, New York, one of four children of John and Sally Hartmayer. He was raised in nearby Tonawanda, where he received his early education at St. Amelia School. He graduated from Cardinal O'Hara High School in 1969.
In 1969, Hartmayer joined the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, commonly known as the Conventual Franciscans, at the St. Joseph Cupertino Friary in Ellicott City, Maryland. He took his simple vows as a Conventual Franciscan friar on August 15, 1970, before making his solemn profession on August 15, 1973. He also studied at St. Hyacinth College and Seminary in Granby, Massachusetts, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in philosophy in 1974. From 1974 to 1975, he taught at Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore. He then returned to New York to study theology at St. Anthony-on-Hudson Seminary in Rensselaer, receiving a Master of Theology degree in 1979.
Bishop Hartmayer was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard on May 5, 1979, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany, NY. He then returned to Archbishop Curley High School, where he served as a guidance counselor and teacher (1979-1985) and principal (1985-1988). In 1980, he earned a Master of Arts degree in pastoral counseling from Emmanuel College in Boston. He served as principal of his alma mater of Cardinal O'Hara High School in Tonawanda from 1988 to 1989, when he became principal of St. Francis High School in Athol Springs. He received a Master of Education degree in Secondary Catholic School Administration from Boston College in 1992.
Following a three-month sabbatical at St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, California, Bishop Hartmayer briefly served as an instructor at John Carroll Catholic High School in Fort Pierce, Florida, in 1995. In August of that year, he was named pastor of St. Philip Benizi Church in Jonesboro, Georgia. He became pastor of St. John Vianney Church in Lithia Springs, in July 2010.
On July 19, 2011, Bishop J. Kevin Boland of the Diocese of Savannah announced his retirement and Pope Benedict XVI appointed Hartmayer as the fourteenth bishop of the diocese. His consecration took place on October 18, 2011, at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, Georgia.
Highlights of his Episcopate
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The five missionary Franciscan friars who were martyred on the coast of Georgia in the late 16th century were an inspiration to Archbishop-Elect Hartmayer. A Franciscan friar himself, he enthusiastically promoted their cause towards canonization throughout the Diocese and in Rome.
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Catholic education being close to his heart and experience, this former counselor and principal oversaw the rebuilding of two Parochial primary schools and the creation of a new Parochial high school.
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Three new churches were built and a new parish was created under his leadership. With the same zeal, he welcomed Franciscan Friars, Missionary Sisters of the Most Blessed Trinity, the Apostles of Jesus, and seminarians from Nigeria, Ghana, Poland, Mexico, and Colombia to serve the people under his care.
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He traveled extensively through the 90 counties and 38,000 square miles of the Savannah Diocese, visiting parishes and schools nearly every week.
