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‘We’ll get through it’: New Orleans pastor looks to rebuild after Ida

September 2, 2021 Catholic News Agency 0
Damage at St. Stephen’s Catholic School in New Orleans / Monsignor Christopher Nalty

Washington D.C., Sep 2, 2021 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

A New Orleans pastor whose parish school was severely damaged in Hurricane Ida is bracing himself for a “big expense,” but hopes classroom life will not be overly disrupted for students this year. 

St. Stephen Catholic School, located in Uptown New Orleans, lost the roof of its gymnasium when Hurricane Ida swept through the area on Aug. 29. 

“At some point during the early part of the storm, the wind got underneath the vinyl material and then just ripped everything off the roof,” Monsignor Christopher Nalty, pastor of St. Stephen’s church and school, told CNA on Thursday. 

The type of roof formerly on the gymnasium “is very prone to getting destroyed,” Nalty explained. And while the full extent of the damage is not yet known, he suspects that the floor of the gymnasium is destroyed as well. He is also waiting to find out how the other wing of the school, with classrooms, fared. 

“We’re going to have to replace the roof,” he said. “That’s what we’re working on now.” 

In-person classes in the Archdiocese of New Orleans are suspended until after Labor Day, due to the effects of the hurricane. Many areas of the archdiocese still do not have power. 

Local media reported on the significant damage at the school. 

“Take a look at this. It looks like the roof came off of the school building,” said Travers Mackel, a reporter and anchor at WDSU News in a video surveying the area. “This is by far the worst damage that we’ve seen right here.” 

Mackel said that most of the destruction in the surrounding area was to vegetation, and that only St. Stephen Catholic School seemed to have suffered significant property damage. 

Pieces of the school’s roof were strewn into nearby trees and in the street. The church building, located next to the school, was largely spared, although part of the steeple was damaged. 

Nalty told CNA that he hopes to replace the gym roof with one made out of slatted steel. He said that many Gulf Coast churches have opted to replace their roofs with similar styles after they sustained storm damage.

“I said to [a contractor] ‘That’s what I want on the school,’” Nalty said. “‘Cause I don’t want to fix this again, you know?”

The cost of the repairs is not yet clear, but Nalty told CNA that he does not think it will be cheap. The archdiocese’s insurance policy charges a 3% deductible for any damage done by a named storm, such as Hurricane Ida. 

“So 3% of the value of the whole building is the deductible,” he said. “For instance, for my school, my church, I think it’s valued at $15 million. So that means I have a $450,000 deductible before any insurance kicks in.”

For Nalty, the school and its students hold a very special place in his heart, and he hopes that they will be able to return to the school before too long. 

“I do a lot of different things in the archdiocese. I teach at the seminary. I’ve got three churches. Quite possibly, the most important thing I do is the school,” he said, blinking back tears. 

The school was founded in 1852, and serves students from age two through seventh grade. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, St. Stephen Catholic School became a “central school” that took in students whose schools were destroyed. 

“Now our school is about 98% African-American and they are from the poorest demographic of the city,” said Nalty. “My principal is a rockstar and these kids are all on scholarship.”

The school is “such a family,” said Nalty. Students are brought to campus early for breakfast, and stay afterwards for aftercare. For the last four years, every graduate has been admitted into a Catholic high school in New Orleans, with a scholarship. 

“They go to school in this family community. We have Mass every Friday,” he said. “The kids are actively engaged. They know their faith.” 

The opportunities provided to St. Stephen’s students “means the trajectory of their lives has been changed.” 

“Their chances are exponentially different from their neighbors that go to the public schools,” said Nalty. “It’s an incredibly important ministry to me. I just love these kids. They’re just, [the storm damage is] just hard.”

“But anyway, you know, well… We’ll get through it.” 

Anyone wishing to support the rebuilding effort can do so here.


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News Briefs

African-American parish in Denver robbed of tabernacle, Eucharist

September 1, 2021 Catholic News Agency 1
Father Joseph Cao, assisted by Deacon Clarence McDavid, blesses the parts of the church affected by an Aug. 30 break-in, during a Mass of reparation at Curé d’Ars Catholic Church in Denver, Colo., Sept. 1, 2021. / Jonah McKeown/CNA.

Denver, Colo., Sep 1, 2021 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

A historically African-American parish in Denver was robbed Monday night of a number of valuables, most notably the tabernacle and several consecrated hosts.

Thieves plundered Curé d’Ars Catholic Church and made off with all the church’s vessels used for Mass from the vestry, which they accessed by kicking in a wooden door. They also took a laptop used for livestreaming Masses, and a sound board used to connect to the church’s microphones. 

Father Joseph Cao, the church’s pastor, said he has no idea who could have carried out the robbery, which took place sometime during the night of Aug. 30-31. This is the first break-in the church has had, he said. 

The assailants also tore out four security cameras throughout the sanctuary, ensuring they would not be caught on video. They also cut all the copper piping off of the building’s furnace downstairs and from a stairwell on the building’s exterior, flooding the church basement with water. 

Around 8:40am on Aug. 31, Father Cao discovered that the church’s outer door had been pried open. He found an upturned chair and several unconsecrated hosts on the ground when he entered the sanctuary. He then saw that the tabernacle was gone, and found the flood in the basement. 

“My heart just sank. I felt so helpless,” he said. “We pray for a safe return of the Eucharist.”

Insurance will likely cover most of the stolen items, but of course, the Body of Christ is priceless. 

“As you can imagine, this is very devastating for the entire community,” Deacon Clarence McDavid told CNA. 

“We have people who have been here probably since the mid-60s…I’ve been a deacon here for 34 years.”

Curé d’Ars parish dates to 1952, and its name honors St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests who had care of souls in Ars, France, in the nineteenth century.

By the 1970s, thanks mainly to changing demographics in the area, Curé d’Ars served approximately 200 predominantly black families. 

The sanctuary was blessed and rededicated as a sacred space Aug. 31. 

Father Cao celebrated a Mass of reparation Sept. 1 to atone for the sins of those who stole the tabernacle. He and Deacon McDavid processed throughout the church, blessing and sprinkling with Holy Water the areas most affected by the robbery. 

“Those [other items] can be replaced, but the Blessed Sacrament is such a precious gift, and that cannot be replaced,” Father  Cao said during the homily. 

“Evil seems to win; but we know God will win in the end, we truly believe that. Because God is much stronger than evil,” Father Cao said. 

At the end of the Mass, several parishioners asked the priest and deacon if they could bless and pray over them, as well. 

The current church building was dedicated in 1978 under pastor Fr. Robert Kinkel. The parish later welcomed Charlie Bright as the first African-American deacon in the Denver archdiocese.


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