Posted on 09/05/2005 11:53:46 PM PDT by Deo volente
No religious institution faced as daunting a challenge as the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Most of its parishioners have scattered, and half of its 300 priests are unaccounted for. But Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes of New Orleans, the spiritual leader of 500,000 people in one of the most heavily Roman Catholic regions in the United States, said he was preparing to put together his archdiocese "in exile."
"I never thought the Lord was going to ask me to take this on at 72," he said after celebrating an emotional Mass here at the Cathedral of St. Joseph, the seat of the Diocese of Baton Rouge.
Sunday was perhaps the first time since 1725 that Mass has not been said in a parish church in New Orleans, said Archbishop Hughes, adding that a few priests who stayed behind in the stricken city may have offered communion to individual Catholics around them. The task, as Archbishop Hughes described it, is to reorganize the Archdiocese of New Orleans, including an extensive charitable network and 104 parochial schools, in Baton Rouge.
The chaos surrounding Hurricane Katrina may have already claimed the life of one of his priests, the Rev. Thomas Kinney, who had cancer and died at St. Clare's Nursing Home in Baton Rouge on Saturday night, just after he evacuated from New Orleans. Two priests who stayed to minister to refugees in the Superdome are missing. Archbishop Hughes has not heard from a third priest, who went to the Louis Armstrong airport in New Orleans to tend to elderly, frail and disabled residents who were being airlifted for medical treatment.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Prayers requested for their safety.
pinging your Catholic lists to an urgent prayer request.
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I know the Seminary and Chancery (think it is next to the seminary) must be flooded as I have friends who escaped from a few blocks away, and they had 6 feet of water around their house. The Archbishop's residence is at the corner of Carolloton and Pritchard Pl. the street that my friends lived on, one and a half blocks from the Archbishop.
Prayers for the safety of the priests.
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May these priests be held in the palm of the hand of God. I know many of them must have stayed behind to minister to those remaining in the city.
For those who have died, may they rest in peace.
Quite an amazing fact. A sad one.
Prayers for these (and all) Priests and for their earthly safety and safekeeping. For any who have died, I thank God for their service and pray for their souls in Heaven.
I haven't donated any money yet to Katrina victims. I think I would like to specifically support these churches because, unlike most of the people, they aren't eligible for any government help.
It's quite likely that some of these churches became makeshift shelters that no one has yet discovered.
The Archdiocese's website with a donation address:
http://www.archdiocese-no.org/
Prayers for safety.
Prayers for the safe return of the priests.
So many priests in terrible circumstances have been rescued, apparently by divine intervention.
prayer bump
Thanks for the links to the miracles. Wonderful stories.
Here's another mention of the missing priests from the Dallas Morning News.
EXCERPT:
The archdiocese has had to cope with mounting losses. One of its priests, Thomas Kinney, died Saturday night after a bout with cancer. Archbishop Hughes said a traumatic evacuation from a nursing home expedited the priest's death.
The archdiocese does not have any information about almost half of its priests, some of who stayed in areas affected by the hurricane.
As Archbishop Hughes visited shelters during the week, he heard "harrowing" tales of escape from the hurricane, he said.
"I am convinced that God is going to purify us through this," he said after the Mass.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/090505dntexkatchurches.8571ee0.html
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