Louisiana Catholic Archdiocese to Consolidate Several Parishes

Major changes are coming to the Catholic Church in Louisiana. By this time next year, numerous Parishes will be either closed, or consolidated. According to WVUE-TV, these changes will take place before July of 2024.

Archdiocese of New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond announced the plans this past weekend, and pointed to the financial struggles the dioceses faces. Aymond wrote an open letter to clergy and parishioners, that read:

“These are difficult and painful decisions for everyone involved. When I returned home to New Orleans in 2009, I never imagined I would be in the situation of having to merge parishes. This is something we must do for the good of the local church, and something that is being done in Catholic dioceses around the country.”

The letter from Aymond said that these consolidation will impact 16 Parishes starting in July of 2024. WVUE-TV's report described the following closures included in Aymond's plan:

• St. Gabriel, St. James Major and Transfiguration of the Lord, all in New Orleans, will merge to become one new parish. The archdiocese says “a local, outside facilitator” will assist the communities in proposing a name and location for the merged parish at one of the three campuses by March 1, 2024
• St. Mary of the Angels and Our Lady Star of the Sea, both in New Orleans, will merge to become one new parish. The archdiocese says the communities will propose a name for the new parish to be located at the St. Mary of the Angels campus by March 1, 2024
• Our Lady of the Angels in Waggaman will merge with St. Bonaventure in Avondale to become one new parish, erected with a new name, and located at the Our Lady of the Angels campus
• St. Gertrude in Des Allemands and St. John the Baptist in Paradis will merge to become one new parish, erected with a new name, and located at the St. John the Baptist campus
• St. John Bosco and St. Rosalie, both in Harvey, will merge to become one new parish. The archdiocese said it will ask the community to propose the name of the merged parish and the campus where it should be housed
• Our Lady of Divine Providence in Metairie and Christ the King in Terrytown “have made significant progress in addressing and planning for their challenges,” Aymond said, and will remain open

The Archdiocese has been facing financial issues since an increasing number of lawsuits over sexual conduct have been mounting. The church filed bankruptcy in May of 2020. Though Aymond denies that those financial issues were related to these changes.