December 2005/January 2006

Picking up the pieces
Legatus members help bring back New Orleans

by Patrick Novecosky

Officer Latina Jolivett smiles broadly as she spots her son Jordan waiting patiently on a bench at Cathedral Academy.

It was an uneasy smile that took some time to return. Just a few months earlier, the New Orleans police officer was running for her life with two sons in tow. She’s only been back to her beloved New Orleans for three weeks, but life is starting to return to normal.

“Our home was totally destroyed,” she says, trying to muster up another smile. “We had about seven feet of water in my home, so we lost everything. All we have is each other and that’s the most important thing.”

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita left 80 percent of New Orleans under water, crippling the city’s already suffering public school system. The storms hit Catholic schools hard, but their recovery was much quicker.

Jordan—and dozens of other public school children—are now attending New Orleans Catholic schools tuition-free, thanks to the archdiocese.

“The public schools in New Orleans won’t open until next August,” explains Pete Quirk, a Legatus member and executive director of the archdiocese’s Catholic Foundation. “You have 50,000 kids who were in public schools and are now looking to enroll in a private school—or public school—anywhere.”

Deep Catholic roots

Normally, the Catholic Foundation’s role is to raise funds to sustain the archdiocese’s ministries. But since the hurricanes hit, the Foundation is working with other organizations to rebuild the Catholic infrastructure in New Orleans.

Nearly 70 percent of archdiocesan facilities suffered severe wind damage in the storms and 30 percent were hit by both flooding and wind. Dozens of churches were destroyed.

Archbishop Alfred Hughes and his advisors are working to plan the future of the Church in New Orleans. It’s a grim task in a city where Catholic roots run deep. Established in 1793, it’s the second oldest diocese in the country. French, Spanish and Acadian Catholics breathed life into the city and, despite the decadence of Mardi Gras, the city’s Catholic presence is still vibrant.

“The Church does have a very different history here,” Archbishop Hughes says. “The contribution that the Catholic Church has made in education and social service—apart from worship, faith, spiritual and moral formation—is really extraordinary,” he says. “It’s more pronounced than in most other areas of the country.”

The Catholic influence here goes beyond the pews, so much so that counties are called “parishes.”

Utterly devastating

Only 20 percent of residents have returned to the three hardest-hit civil parishes—Orleans, St. Bernard and Plaquemines. For the most part, power hasn’t been restored and likely won’t be until officials determine whether flood-damaged houses will be demolished or rebuilt.

The financial and emotional burden on the archdiocese and the city are enormous, says Legatus member Jim Kelly, CEO of Catholic Charities of New Orleans.

“Before Katrina, 25 percent of New Orleanians lived below the poverty line—32 percent of children, 47 percent of African Americans,” Kelly explains. “You can imagine what those numbers are now.”

Officials estimate that 250,000 New Orleanians were displaced by the two hurricanes. More than 1,000 people died. Kelly speaks in present terms about the displacement because much of the city of New Orleans — Orleans Parish — is completely uninhabitable.

“You can drive all day and see nothing but destroyed homes—and not see the same house twice,” says Bob Menard, a Legatus member who serves as director of planned giving for the Catholic Foundation. “It’s utterly devastating.”

The challenge of repopulating the city is massive. People won’t come back without infrastructure. Public schools are closed and most businesses haven’t reopened. There are reconstruction jobs for “men with strong backs,” Kelly says, but housing is an issue.

“You want to repopulate the city, but there’s no housing,” he says. “It’s going to take a minimum of five years to semi-rebuild New Orleans.”

The “new” New Orleans

Three Legatus members—Joe Canizaro, Mel Lagarde and Alden McDonald—are working with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (also a Legatus member) on his Bring Back New Orleans Commission.

Archbishop Hughes, who also sits on the Commission, has asked his diocesan leaders to come up with a plan by Dec. 31 for rebuilding Catholic facilities. With $80 million in uninsured losses, he concedes that the archdiocese will look much different down the road.

“It’s a very difficult and painful process,” he says, “but we have to be realistic. And I think God has given us a grace at this moment.

“We’re going to be fewer in numbers, therefore smaller as an archdiocese in terms of people, and we’re going to be poorer in terms of resources. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t grow in faith, hope and sacrificial love.”

The archdiocese and its charities are seeking funds from multiple sources, Quirk explains. They are hoping to benefit from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, FEMA and Catholic Charities USA. However, the need for rebuilding facilities—and more importantly, the lives of Catholics—will continue for years.

“To rebuild New Orleans, technically, the Church has got to be there,” Quirk says. “There will have to be some risks in that area. There’s no guarantee that if you build it, they will come. But if you don’t build it, you can be sure they won’t come.”

Officer Jolivett’s partner, Ed Perkins, is a parishioner and usher at Our Lady of Guadalupe in downtown New Orleans. Perkins and hundreds of police and firefighters now live on cruise ships anchored in the Mississippi River. He says his pastor’s presence is a Godsend.

“I went in to talk to him,” he explains. “We have counselors on the boat, but a lot of times police officers are not going to commit to them in conversation, but they will to someone they’re quite familiar with. In my case, it was my priest. I talked to him and it helped a whole lot.”

Many priests in the archdiocese—those with and those without parish buildings—are challenged to minister to their flocks in these challenging times.

“I think this is a moment of purification and reorientation of our resources,” says Archbishop Hughes, “and learning in a very practical way that the Church is not tied to specific buildings, but it’s walking with the people and trying to figure out a way to be pastorally present and pastorally responsive in these areas.”

For all New Orleanians, more challenges lie ahead.

“The holidays are coming up,” Perkins says, “and this is going to be a very hard for most of us. For the officers that have small children, they’re not going to be around them or their families. With a little encouragement and most of all, our faith, we’re going to get through it all.”

Patrick Novecosky is the editor of Legatus Magazine.

For more information, contact Pete Quirk at (225) 279-4921 or pquirk@archdiocese-no.org

© 2005 Legatus