Papal preacher visits New Orleans to tour Katrina devastation

Published: 2006-03-20

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household, visited New Orleans in mid-March to view firsthand the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina and to interview survivors for a television program that airs each Saturday night on Italian state television. "The programs we are recording here will be seen by millions of people," Father Cantalamessa, a Capuchin Franciscan, told the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the New Orleans Archdiocese. "Hurricane Katrina had a tremendous impact everywhere, but I can say in Italy people were very, very impressed, and they understand the suffering of the city." The priest, who leads meditations for the pope and his closest advisers on Fridays in Advent and Lent, planned to weave his experiences into his Lenten talks and into two upcoming 11-minute TV programs. "I wanted to relate the Gospel of the Passion and the Resurrection to the passion and resurrection here in New Orleans," he said. "We wanted to see how much suffering the hurricane provoked but also the signs of resurrection, the hope for restoring life."

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