c. 2008 Religion News Service

NEW ORLEANS _ In the two years since the Archdiocese of New Orleans mothballed Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, neighbors have wondered what would become of the massive church building and school.

Apart from the loss of worship services and social programs, the absence of activity caught the attention of parishioners and non-Catholics alike as the once-bustling space along Napoleon Avenue reverted to a quiet compound predisposed to blight.

“It’s like having a big shadow cast over your neighborhood,” said Greg Ensslen, president of the Freret Business and Property Owner Association. “It’s not necessarily malevolent, but it’s also not contributing anything to daily life.”

With Wednesday’s (April 9) announcement by Archbishop Alfred Hughes that Our Lady of Lourdes and 32 other parishes will be closed in a broad reorganization of Catholic life, neighbors weren’t alone in fretting about what would become of an empty church.

They joined residents and civic leaders across the region who reacted to the archdiocese’s plan with deep uncertainty about what the changes will mean for neighborhoods surrounding the affected parishes _ especially those still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

“You’re losing more than religion in a church,” City Councilwoman Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson said. “You’re losing what’s been a center of influence, of social gathering and where people have felt the most comfort in coming home after Katrina.”

Hughes said the archdiocese will assume control of all shuttered real estate, and church leaders will try to recast the spaces to serve the local Catholic mission, such as by providing health centers or senior housing complexes.

If such plans cannot be worked out, the archdiocese will seek renters or buyers who would use the properties “for the common good,” he said. Selling them on the commercial market would be a last resort.

Beyond that broad scheme, however, Hughes offered few hints of what could occur at each site, and he declined to estimate how soon plans will be set.

If charitable uses cannot be found quickly, New Orleans City Councilwoman Stacy Head said she hopes the archdiocese will move to find commercial buyers, noting that in the city, nonprofits are exempt from property taxes.

“The worst case to me would be if they were derelict, not on the market and not on the tax rolls,” she said.

C. Elliott Perkins, executive director of New Orleans’ Historic District Landmarks Commission, said leaving empty churches vacant for months or years could yield a pair of harmful effects.

In recovering neighborhoods, a long lag could hinder rebuilding of adjacent blocks, particularly if the building is large. “They control a significant portion of land there, and if it sits empty, it will weigh down the neighborhood and its recovery,” Perkins said.

Second, churches of architectural and historical significance that are left to fester could quickly fall into disrepair, threatening the city’s cultural fabric. Two churches on the closure list _ St. Maurice and Our Lady of Good Counsel in the Garden District _ are in historic areas, while St. Frances de Sales, considered the place New Orleans rhythms fused with ancient works to create the “jazz Mass,” is a landmark.

City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis, like many Catholics across the region, said she hopes the archdiocese will reconsider its decisions in light of revised census figures.

“When you say closed,” she said, “that’s such a death knell.”

(Michelle Krupa writes for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans.)

KRE/PH END KRUPA

Photos from Our Lady of Good Counsel are available via https://religionnews.com.<