New Orleans to close seven parishes, delay opening of 23 others

Published: 2006-02-10

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a pastoral plan Feb. 9 that calls for the closing of seven parishes and delays the reopening of 23 others until there are enough parishioners in an area to warrant the resumption of pastoral ministry. It also calls for establishing six centralized elementary schools, which before the storm had served primarily as individual parish elementary schools. The archdiocese, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, is facing unknown projections regarding its future Catholic population and hundreds of its properties suffered extensive damage. New Orleans Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes projected that the archdiocese, which before Katrina was home to nearly a half-million Catholics in 142 parishes, might see its Catholic population return in the next two years to only 60 percent to 65 percent of its August 2005 levels, which would mean a Catholic population of about 295,000. The pastoral plan, which will take effect March 15, establishes a framework for pastoral ministry in the seven deaneries that sustained the greatest damage from the Aug. 29 storm.

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