Posted on 04/10/2008 7:45:37 AM PDT by NYer
NEW ORLEANS — Calling it a “pivotal moment’’ in the 215-year history of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Archbishop Alfred Hughes said Wednesday that 25 church parishes — 19 of them shuttered since Hurricane Katrina — will close and merge with neighboring congregations by year’s end.
The majority of those Catholic parishes are in New Orleans, while a handful are in St. Bernard Parish and one each are in Plaquemines and Jefferson parishes.
Hughes also announced that two other church parishes, both in the Jefferson suburb of Kenner, will close and merge by the middle of next year. Four other church parishes in Jefferson will close and become missions by the end of this year, he said.
In addition, two parishes currently operating on local college campuses — St. Thomas the Apostle at the University of New Orleans and St. Thomas More at Tulane University — will close and become campus ministry centers, Hughes said.
Finally, three church parishes that were closed temporarily in 2006 — Our Lady of Lourdes in the St. Bernard Parish community of Violet, St. Bernard in the town of St. Bernard and St. Thomas in the Plaquemines community of Pointe a la Hache — will reopen, he said.
No more Catholic schools will reopen at this time, Hughes said.
There are currently 122 Sunday worship sites in the archdiocese — 117 church parishes and five missions.
The pastoral plan Hughes unveiled Wednesday reduces the number of worship locations to 119 — 108 parishes, nine missions and the two campus ministry centers.
“My heart reaches out to all people who are hurt, wounded, fearful of the future, perhaps even angry,’’ Hughes said during a news conference at the archdiocese chancery behind Notre Dame Seminary. He added, though, that the plan made “responsible pastoral sense.’’
In a letter read over the weekend to congregations in the archdiocese, Hughes said 20 percent of the region’s 491,000 Catholics have not returned since Katrina left the archdiocese with $120 million in uninsured losses to church-owned property.
He also said the archdiocese projects a net loss of 18 priests through retirement or death in the next five years.
Hughes said the decisions detailed Wednesday were “not made lightly,’’ and he promised that the archdiocese will “walk the journey’’ with parishioners.
Still, some parishioners are vowing to fight the closure plan, including those at St. Henry and Our Lady of Good Counsel in New Orleans.
Hughes, a former bishop of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, said closing and merging 25 church parishes in the New Orleans area by Dec. 31 will allow parishioners time to “grieve’’ and “voice concerns, fears, anxieties, hopes.’’
“We do want the people to be involved in the implementation of the plan,’’ he said.
Hughes quoted St. Paul in acknowledging that the reconfiguration will cause pain among Catholics in the archdiocese, saying, “When one member suffers, the whole body suffers.’’
Hughes pointed out, however, that Paul said the body is resilient, and the archbishop said the archdiocese will display its resiliency in the challenging post-Katrina era.
Hughes said the archdiocese — which includes the civil parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, Plaquemines, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany and Washington — submitted a balanced budget this year for the first time since the hurricane in August 2005.
“We’re going to have a struggle to make sure we adhere to that budget,’’ he conceded.
Archdiocesan officials stressed that a cost-benefit analysis did not factor into the decisions to close and merge church parishes.
Hughes said archdiocesan officials will look at the adaptive use of closed or soon-to-be-closed church buildings before trying to lease or sell the properties.
To deal with the shortage of priests, Hughes said the archdiocese will launch a “full-court press’’ in an effort to encourage more vocations to the priesthood.
“We do not have a history of cultivating vocations,’’ he said, noting that more than 30 of the priests in the archdiocese were born in Vietnam.
Even though the Vatican discourages the “raiding’’ of other dioceses for priests, Hughes said he is not closing the door to the possibility of doing that on a temporary basis.
Parishes closing and merging by Dec. 31
Ping!
The second-oldest archdiocese in the country now styles itself “mission” territory. Heck of a job, +Afred.
It’s a disgrace. Yet nothing ever seems to happen to bishops whose dioceses have bled to death under their watch.
While it’s true that in certain older parts of the country, there is a need to close down some of the churches, there is also a great need for bishops to promote the Catholic faith. There are excellent resources for this - we saw one yesterday http://www.catholicscomehome.org - yet I don’t see any of the bishops in this part of the country, adopting a similar approach. Meanwhile, we are witnessing the growth of evangelical churches and now, not far from my home, a 2 minaret mosque!
Do we have any Louisiana Freepers about.
Looking from a long distance this doesn’t seem so drastic.
Most of the closing parishes have been “closed” for nearly three years. The physical plant is probably deteriorated and the population has plummetted, in addition the population has already adapted to attending the new Parishes for nearly three years.
Of the others, a small number are becoming Missions, thus combining assets.
I think we need a locals input.
And the actual number of active parishes is only dropping slightly.
But we do need to hear from local Catholics to get the straight skinny on this one.
Hughes is a simpering, clueless disaster. His epitaph will be "Honey, I shrunk the Diocese".
“Do we have any Louisiana Freepers about.
Looking from a long distance this doesn’t seem so drastic.”
http://videos.nola.com/times-picayune/2008/04/church_reacts_to_closure.html
Here’s a discussion among some locals on the closings.
At least not in this world ... I wouldn't want to be in their shoes on Judgment Day (I have more than enough to account for and I'm only responsible for my own soul).
I spoke to a Katrina refugee about this today. She was unhappy that ‘her’ church was being closed, but she hasn’t been there for church since the storm, and has no plans to return to NO to live. While it is a shame for beautiful, historic structures to close, it does recognize reality. I am surprised they haven’t added a few Mexican parishes.
I’d think that some folks here would be excited about the designation of one facility for the Latin Mass.
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