Joel Konzen

Joel Matthias Konzen S.M. (born November 6, 1950) is an American Catholic prelate who has served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Atlanta in Georgia since 2018.

Biography

Early life Joel Konzen was born on November 6, 1950, in Toledo, Ohio, and grew up in Oak Harbor, Ohio. He entered St. Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, Indiana in 1968, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1972. Kozen then went to Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1974.

While at Notre Dame, Konzen entered the novitiate for the Society of Mary (the Marists). He took his first vows as a Marist in 1975. The Marists in 1976 assigned Konzen as a teacher at St. Peter Chanel High School in Bedford, Ohio for one year. He then attended the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., receiving a Master of Theology degree in systematic theology in 1978. That same year, Konzen returned to New Orleans to take perpetual vows as a Marist and was ordained a deacon.

Priesthood

On May 19, 1979, Konzen was ordained to the priesthood for the Marists by Bishop Stanley Ott at St. Andrew the Apostle Church in New Orleans. After his ordination, the Marists assigned him to a pastoral role in 1979 at St. Edmond Parish in Lafayette, Louisiana. On April 3, 2018, Konzen was consecrated by Archbishop Wilton Gregory at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta, with Archbishop Thomas Rodi and Bishop Bernard Shlesinger III serving as co-consecrators.

Boards

Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans Pope Francis School and Health Center in Ghana Marist School in Brookhaven

Coat of arms

For Konzen the shield is silver (white) with a blue pile (an A-shaped device) upon which is displayed the conjoined "A" and "M," known an "the monogram of Mary," in silver (white) that is the emblem of the Society of Mary. The pile resembles an inlet of water, such as a bay or harbor, and this pile is charged with a gold (yellow) oak leaf to signify Oak Harbor, Ohio, Konzen's home town. Above the pile are an open book (gold [yellow] with red edges) and a red cross to signify that Konzen has spent most of his life in education, in a Catholic environment, including his last position, before becoming a bishop, as president of the Marist School.