New archbishop to lead New Orleans' flock

chron ^ | August 20, 2009

[NYer]

NEW ORLEANS — Rev. Gregory Aymond, a 59-year-old New Orleans native, was formally installed Thursday as the 14th archbishop overseeing the city's Roman Catholic community, which is still struggling to recover from damage done by Hurricane Katrina.

Aymond is the first New Orleans native to hold the post.

"This day is overwhelming," Aymond said after the 2 1/2 hour ceremony.

In an interview the day before the lavish ceremonies in the French Quarter's historic St. Louis Cathedral, Aymond said he expected to be emotional. "I was ordained a deacon, priest and bishop in that cathedral and now an archbishop."

Cardinals from Chicago, Philadelphia and Houston and 47 archbishops and bishops from around the country were at the ceremony, along with Jewish, Muslim, Protestant and Greek Orthodox leaders.

Even though he has been away from the city for nine years, Aymond said it is still very much his home. He has family living in the area, including a sister in suburban Metairie.

Aymond will oversee the archdiocese's 382,000 members in 108 parishes. He was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to replace Archbishop Alfred Hughes, 76, who retired after more than seven years in the post.

Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the pope's representative in the United States, handed Aymond his shepherd's staff, the symbol of his office, making the appointment official, though the actual letter of appointment had not yet arrived from Rome.

Hughes, as well as Archbishops Francis Shulte and Philip Hannan, were at the ceremony.

"According to our research, we think New Orleans is the only archdiocese with four active archbishops," Aymond said.

Katrina in 2005 did more than $280 million in damage to church property. The city's Catholic community also has been touched by the same issues troubling other dioceses, including the aftermath of years of sex scandals and the unpopular consolidation of parishes and closing of

[NYer]

From Tom McFeeley at National Catholic Register

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Surprisingly, I can’t find anything at the website of Catholic News Service about yesterday’s installation of the new Archbishop of New Orleans, Gregory Aymond.

The Daily Blog wants to draw attention to the event anyway. So here’s a link to coverage in the New Orleans Times-Picayune today about the installation of a native son of the Big Easy to this important position in the hierarchy of the Church in America.

Church-watcher extraordinaire Rocco Palmo has also posted a pair of entries this week related to new archbishop, here and here at his Whispers in the Loggia blog.