N.O. archdiocese to close 25 church parishes

• By JOE GYAN JR.
• Advocate New Orleans bureau
• Published: Apr 10, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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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.