From the Times-Picayune:
Three years after they launched a desperate effort to save their Catholic parish from closure, members of historic St. Augustine Parish in Treme got official word Sunday: They are off probation and back on solid ground.
The Rev. Quentin Moody made the announcement at the conclusion of 10 a.m. Mass to a crowd of worshippers who interrupted his announcement with shouts and applause.
Among them were lay leaders who three years ago dug in their heels and resisted Archbishop Alfred Hughes' decision to close the wounded 168-year-old parish in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
....
The old congregation in one of New Orleans' most historic neighborhoods is a cultural jewel. In its earliest days, white merchants, free black artisans and slaves worshipped there together. It was home to civil rights heroes Homer Plessy and A.P. Tureaud and pioneer jazz clarinetist Sidney Bechet.
....
The news was greeted by a typical St. Augustine crowd -- racially mixed, with a blend of white and black New Orleanians and out-of-town visitors. Sunday, a few dozen young hurricane relief volunteers absorbed the jubilant worship among white and black New Orleanians who swayed and clapped through a Mass infused with up-tempo gospel and African-American spirituals, despite the solemn Lenten season.
St. Augustine is the oldest African-American Roman Catholic parish in the United States. May God bless the priest and parishioners of St. Augustine, and may they continue to grow and prosper in the work of the Lord.
Unfortunately, two other historic parishes, St. Henry and Our Lady of Good Counsel, which had also met the benchmarks for financial stability to continue as parish churches, were not given reprieves by the diocese.
I weep with both joy and sadness here.
ReplyDeleteWe have 30 churches up here that have or will soon close. It is painful - and painful doesn't even begin to cover it.
Fran, I know that hard choices must be made. Because of St. Augustine's unique cultural history, it would have been a tragedy for the church to be shuttered.
ReplyDeleteGood news is always good news! Thanks, grandmere. (heh, they're as tenacious as swamp yankees down there I guess.)
ReplyDelete:)
Scott, when I heard that St. Aug's might close, I could not believe it. Thanks be to God that did not happen.
ReplyDeleteamen.
ReplyDeleteI rejoice for St. Augustine, but in the matter of St. Henry and Our Lady of Good Counsel: When you "meet the benchmarks for financial stability to continue as parish churches" the diocese should play fair and give you the reprieve. (Not that bishops are noted for playing fair, are they?)
ReplyDeleteVery sorry to hear about the other two; very pleased that St Augustine's will continue.
ReplyDeleteDo I sound radical if I suggest cutting the college of cardinals in half and funding parishes instead?
BooCat, a major problem for the RCC is the severe priest shortage. They don't have enough of them to staff all the churches.
ReplyDeletePaul, your idea of cutting the college of cardinals is radical and excellent. They could put the cardinals who are cut out to work serving in parishes.
Solution to priest shortage: Make baptism the sole prerequisite for ordination.
ReplyDeleteOrmonde, it's that simple.
ReplyDeleteYou blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!