[StBernard] Oldest church community in St. Bernard Parish gets OK to reopen

[Westley Annis]

Oldest church community in St. Bernard Parish gets OK to reopen
Posted by The Times-Picayune April 16, 2007 11:23AM
By Karen Turni-Bazile
St. Bernard bureau

The Archdiocese of New Orleans has approved the limited re-opening of St.
Bernard Catholic Church in Kenilworth to serve Catholics in the farthest
eastern reaches of St. Bernard Parish.

Once renovated, the church will have once-per-week masses for parishioners
of St. Bernard and San Pedro Pescador, a Reggio church that was swamped
during Hurricane Katrina. St. Bernard Catholic Church took on 3 feet of
water during the storm.

Of the eight Catholic church parishes in St. Bernard Parish before the
hurricane, Our Lady 
of Prompt Succor is the lone one to have reopened. A request to reopen Our
Lady of Lourdes 
Church in Violet is still pending. 

St. Bernard Catholic Church, established in 1785 as the first church below
New Orleans, was rebuilt in 1916 after a fire. It is an old cypress church
that is structurally sound and lies 
within the levee system, archdiocese officials and church representatives
said.

St. Bernard and San Pedro had a combined membership of around 450 families
before the hurricane.