[StBernard] Church in St. Bernard Parish is making progress in its bid to reopen

[Westley Annis]

Church in St. Bernard Parish is making progress in its bid to reopen

VIOLET, La. -- Phyllis Diecidue never doubted she would rebuild her St.
Bernard Parish home after Hurricane Katrina flooded it.


Likewise, the 15-year co-chairwoman of the Our Lady of Lourdes Church Oyster
Festival said she has faith she will see her church reopen.

The Rev. Michael Jacques, director of the Archdiocese of New Orleans'
criteria committee for reopening parishes, met in January with a group of
about 70 people who want to reopen Lourdes. He said the Violet church is on
its way to meeting the criteria established by Archbishop Alfred Hughes to
reopen churches as demand and interest warrant.

"You have made it clear to me at five meetings, that 'we can take care of
ourselves,' and I believe you," Jacques told the group. "You have already
jump-started the process. We just need to keep moving. I'm encouraged by
what I see."

Last spring, Diecidue and other eager parishioners began asking church
leadership to reopen the church, which serves the Violet and Poydras area.

"I believe in order for our civil parish to grow that our spiritual parish
has to grow," said Diecidue, who is a literacy coach in the St. Bernard
public school district. "We see by the people who have returned that a large
part of the population is in the area of Our Lady of Lourdes."

In the Violet-Poydras area, she said, 69 percent to 75 percent of the
parishioners say they will keep their home in St. Bernard.

Diecidue said that over a 2 1/2 week period, volunteers gathered signatures
of 700 people interested in attending Lourdes.

Early in 2006, Hughes shuttered more than two dozen churches in the New
Orleans area and clustered those parishioners with nearby churches that
would be more viable. The nonfunctioning churches maintained their assets
and funds separately.

Our Lady of Prompt Succor is the only Catholic church parish that has
reopened in St. Bernard Parish; there were eight churches before the storm.

At the urging of Jacques, Lourdes parishioners established a committee, with
Diecidue as its chairwoman, and subcommittees to organize the parish as it
was before the storm. The next step will be a homecoming reception and Mass
on Feb. 10.

"You need names and addresses of where your parishioners are," Jacques said.
"There is no magic number. It's getting a sense of community: having all the
committees re-established, such as marriage preparation and bereavement
committees, to reach out to people who need help. That's what makes a
parish. Some people think having a church building is what makes a church,
but that's not it."

The Rev. Danny Digal, pastor of Prompt Succor and the leader of the St.
Bernard deanery, said 1,600 to 1,700 churchgoers attended weekend Masses at
his church before the storm, and about 700 used to attend Lourdes. Since
Katrina, weekend Mass attendance at Our Lady of Prompt Succor averages
around 1,000 people.

"We are hoping it will reopen," Digal said. "It's their home, but like any
other family, we all know what it entails. Can we sustain it?"

Digal said parishioners from St. Bernard Catholic Church, the oldest church
in the parish, also are trying to reopen.

Archdiocese officials said the Lourdes buildings fared well, with only the
old rectory needing to be demolished because of extensive structural damage.

Jacques said the archdiocese jointly insured its buildings and did not have
sufficient flood insurance, but the archbishop has spread insurance proceeds
and donations among as many churches as possible, giving each viable church
as much as 75 percent of its costs to repair flood damage.

Lourdes has money in its accounts to cover some rebuilding costs from
fundraisers, including the Oyster Festival and the annual Krewe of Lourdes
Carnival Ball.

Lourdes, which does not have a school, serves a middle section of the parish
that officially included about 2,500 families. Diecidue said there were
about 1,800 active families before Katrina.

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