Closed New Orleans church converted to adult day-care facility

Published: 2005-05-12

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- In 2001, Father Joseph Benson removed the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle of St. Cecilia Church and solemnly processed with parishioners down the main aisle to the front door. Then, with everyone outside the church, Father Benson had a parish employee lock the door for the final time. "Don't close my church!" a woman screamed from the steps. "You can't close my church." Four years later, the story of the former St. Cecilia Church is not about pain, suffering and shifting demographics but about rebirth. In August, after years of planning, the former church that once served as an oasis of spiritual healing will be reopened as a revolutionary care center for the elderly. It is named the Shirley Landry Benson PACE Center at St. Cecilia as a memorial to the first wife of Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints pro football team, who contributed $2 million to the renovations. PACE stands for Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.

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