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	Hughes Visits Closing Church Archbishop Takes Criticism after Mass By Bruce Nolan The Times-Picayune June 1, 2008 http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-29/1212297645113860.xml&coll=1 New Orleans Archbishop Alfred Hughes celebrated Mass on Saturday in an Uptown parish he has ordered closed in a few months, then stayed to absorb a barrage of civil but passionate criticism during dozens of one-on-one encounters with tearful, angry and skeptical parishioners who have vowed to resist his decision. Even as Hughes stood surrounded by members of St. Henry Church in their gymnasium after Mass, many others stuffed cash in buckets marked for contributions to a parish legal defense fund. Alden Hagardorn, a parish lay leader, said parishioners have retained a church lawyer to try to reverse Hughes' decision to close St. Henry, in the 800 block of Gen. Pershing Street, before the end of the year. Under the archdiocese's plan for consolidating parishes, St. Henry and neighboring Our Lady of Good Counsel are to be closed and incorporated into St. Stephen. Hughes and two auxiliary bishops have begun visiting several parishes to be closed in a major restructuring of Catholic life in the archdiocese. Hughes reserved for himself St. Henry and Our Lady of Good Counsel, two centers of dissent where his decision is meeting the fiercest resistance. Hagardorn produced a Tuesday letter from City Councilwoman Stacy Head, asking Hughes to reconsider the decision to close the two parishes, plus Blessed Sacrament Parish, all of which are in her district. She said their neighborhoods are repopulating and churches contribute to neighborhood stability. On Saturday, Hughes was greeted by a full church, about 250 people not only from St. Henry, which has about 300 families, but also from other parishes scheduled to be closed. Many said their grandparents had worshipped and been married in that church. However, St. Henry is one of three churches in a single square mile of Uptown New Orleans; two are within two blocks of each other. Hughes has said a worsening shortage of priests will soon make it impossible to continue staffing three small, closely packed parishes. After Mass, Hughes read a statement telling parishioners that even combined with its two neighbors, their parish will contain fewer than 1,000 families — smaller than 39 other parishes that soon will be forced to operate with a single priest, including one with 3,000 families. A few minutes later he stood at the rear of the church and received people on their way out. Many said they had anticipated for weeks the moment they could speak directly to him. "I disagree with everything you're doing. I pray God has mercy on your soul," Donna Williams quietly told Hughes on her way out. "We don't have to worry about Satan destroying our church, because you're doing it for him," said Doris Smith, who described herself as a fifth-generation member of the parish. Later, Hughes moved to the gymnasium, where he was surrounded by knots of people in a crowd of more than 100. In blunt terms, they challenged his decisions and begged him to reconsider. "Archbishop, let's go to mediation," urged Cheron Brylski, of Our Lady of Good Counsel. "There's another solution. There has to be another way." Rita Roccaforte, 72, a lifelong parishioner of St. Henry, broke down in front of Hughes. "I'm sorry," she told him. "I've been crying all day. It's just too much change. Too much for some people to handle." She said later that she has had to put her house on the market and move out of the neighborhood after 53 years but that she still calls St. Henry home. "I'd hoped to be buried from here," she said, dabbing her eyes, "but I guess not." Hughes, clutching a bottle of water, listened quietly. Sometimes he responded briefly in soft tones, then turned to the next person. Parishioners leaned in to hear him. "It hurt," he acknowledged later. "They're hurt; I'm hurt. But that's to be expected. I think it would be a bad thing if it didn't hurt." He indicated he remains firm in his decisions and expressed confidence in the long planning process that picked the parishes for closing. "Interiorly, I'm at peace with the decision, though I'm torn" by the experience of implementing the closings, he said. Bruce Nolan can be reached at bnolan@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3344.
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