New Orleans

Many Catholic dioceses and archdioceses across the country — which closed their parish doors for a time at the start of the pandemic last year and have gradually opened them to limited occupancy in the past year — are getting ready to fully reopen on the feast of Pentecost, May 23.

The archdiocese said the vaccine is 'morally compromised' because it utilized cells with a decades-old link to an aborted fetus.

Ongoing dialogue between Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond and Kevin Bourgeois, the leader of the New Orleans chapter of SNAP, has led to a significant broadening and restructuring of Archdiocese of New Orleans' response to abuse survivors.

This year, as tens of thousands of people nationwide protested racial injustices, Catholics similarly took to the streets and also joined in prayer services and discussions.

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, wrote a letter to Pope Francis calling for the removal of New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond in light of new information about clergy sex abuse cases.

In an act of solidarity with the 350 parishioners of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Pearl River, a visibly upset New Orleans Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond celebrated Mass Oct. 10 for a second consecutive week for the parish and reconsecrated its church and its new altar. The parish had learned a week before that its 13th pastor appointed in July 2019, Father Travis Clark, was arrested Sept. 30 for alleged obscenity with two women in their church.

In the position of steering the city's health policy for less than two years, Dr. Jennifer Avegno became the face, with Mayor LaToya Cantrell, of the coronavirus response in New Orleans.

The history of Black Catholics in the U.S. is a dramatic mix of struggles and breakthroughs, but it has been largely ignored in the curriculum of Catholic schools. That may soon change.