Today, Wednesday, the archdiocese of New Orleans will make an announcement guaranteed to frustrate and even anger a lot of Catholics: which churches (they call them parishes) will be boarded up and shut down. Everyone is on edge, worrying that their beloved parish might be among the doomed.
Yesterday, pickets were out in force parading in front of favorite and vulnerable church buildings. Some people came to pray. This morning at 9:30 am Archbishop Alfred Hughes has summoned 300 active and retired priests to a meeting at Notre Dame Seminary where they will learn the full details of his decision. A news conference will follow.
Few know what will happen. Everyone fears the worst. Some say they are determined to fight for their church. Letter-writing campaigns are already in the works.
Several culprits have brought this about, sources say: the high cost of rebuilding all the hurricane-damaged churches, the weakened population figures for St. Bernard and Orleans parishes, the decreased income from these areas, and the departure of a lot of priests for other cities. This last, the loss of clergy, is called “a slower-moving disaster.”
Interestingly, it’s not only the churches afflicted by smaller numbers of parishioners and weakened income that will be closed, we are told. Some of the affluent churches in the population centers will be combined with other strong churches. As I say, no one but the archbishop knows and everyone waits.
Tuesday, I received a note from a cousin in Virginia. She grew up Methodist and now belongs to an Episcopal church which she loves dearly. However, the pastor has announced that since their tiny congregation has failed to grow during his five years there and since the income from their mother church in the city is ending due to its own financial pressures, he’s thinking of leaving. Mary Beth worries about their little church. She said, “I know personally every person who comes to our church.”
“We’ve tried everything,” she said, mentioning visitation, calling, publicity. “Nothing seems to work.”
As though answering the question in my mind, she said, “I don’t want to leave. I love this little church.”
I responded something like this.