Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans announced plans Sunday (Oct. 29) to close and consolidate several parishes within his financially struggling archdiocese by next July.
“These are difficult and painful decisions for everyone involved,” Aymond wrote in an open letter to clergy and parishioners. “When I returned home to New Orleans in 2009, I never imagined I would be in the situation of having to merge parishes. This is something we must do for the good of the local church, and something that is being done in Catholic dioceses around the country.”
Particularly in dioceses such as New Orleans, which has filed for bankruptcy protection in the face of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by some clergy stretching back decades. Aymond’s archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on May 1, 2020.
In a different letter Aymond distributed last month, he warned, “This has been a much longer, complicated and costly process than anyone could have predicted.”
The archdiocese, however, denied that the 2020 bankruptcy filing contributed to the “Parish Pastoral Planning” changes announced Sunday, saying those have been under discussion since 2016.
“The impact of the Chapter 11 reorganization on Parish Pastoral Planning is limited to the fact that the administrative offices of the archdiocese, because of its own financial situation and its need to maintain a balanced budget, can no longer supplement parishes and ministries that are struggling financially,” the statement said.
In Sunday’s notice, Aymond said closures and consolidations affecting 16 parishes will take effect beginning July 1, 2024.
“It is my fervent prayer that all of our parishes are sustainable and full of vitality,” Aymond wrote. “There is no doubt that our parishes, in fact our entire area, have been affected by many factors out of our control. Natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes over the past decade, the COVID pandemic, the challenges of Hurricane Ida recovery, inflation, and skyrocketing property insurance rates impact our church communities just as they impact our families and our businesses. These are not issues we can ignore in prudent pastoral planning.”
Aymond said there are four situations where two parishes will merge into one, and one other case where three parishes will merge into one. The announced closure plans include:
- St. Gabriel, St. James Major and Transfiguration of the Lord, all in New Orleans, will merge to become one new parish. The archdiocese says “a local, outside facilitator” will assist the communities in proposing a name and location for the merged parish at one of the three campuses by March 1, 2024
- St. Mary of the Angels and Our Lady Star of the Sea, both in New Orleans, will merge to become one new parish. The archdiocese says the communities will propose a name for the new parish to be located at the St. Mary of the Angels campus by March 1, 2024
- Our Lady of the Angels in Waggaman will merge with St. Bonaventure in Avondale to become one new parish, erected with a new name, and located at the Our Lady of the Angels campus
- St. Gertrude in Des Allemands and St. John the Baptist in Paradis will merge to become one new parish, erected with a new name, and located at the St. John the Baptist campus
- St. John Bosco and St. Rosalie, both in Harvey, will merge to become one new parish. The archdiocese said it will ask the community to propose the name of the merged parish and the campus where it should be housed
- Our Lady of Divine Providence in Metairie and Christ the King in Terrytown “have made significant progress in addressing and planning for their challenges,” Aymond said, and will remain open
In addition, Aymond said that in two other cases, parish territory would be merged into neighboring parishes.
The first instance involves New Orleans’ St. Theresa of Avila, which will have its parish territory divided and merged into St. Patrick on Camp Street in the Warehouse District and St. Alphonsus on Constance Street in the Lower Garden District.
The second involves St. Hubert in Garyville, which will be merged into St. Peter in Reserve, although St. Hubert still will remain open as a “non-parochial church” for one Mass each weekend.