St. Gabriel returns to New Orleans church
Valerie Faciane/Religion News Service
Issue date: 8/19/07 Section: Divine Intervention
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It's been nearly two years since the statue of St. Gabriel last stood at the main entrance of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in New Orleans. Six feet of water poured into the church as a result of Hurricane Katrina's devastation, toppling the statue and ruining the walls, pews, altar, piano and organ, in addition to the church office and rectory.
Since the church reopened three months after Katrina hit, parishioners have been sitting on folding chairs; a covered table serves as the altar. The only thing missing was the hand-carved statue of the church's patron saint.
Now, after an interfaith restoration effort that took the 5 1/2-foot-tall statue to Philadelphia and back again, St. Gabriel has returned to its home. Some say he looks better than before, and symbolizes the hope that their lives, community and city will be rebuilt even better than before the storm.
The parish welcomed the statue back on earlier this month in a nearly two-hour mass. The statue stood on its brand new cypress pedestal, next to the makeshift altar.
"The statue is obviously symbolic of our parish," said the Rev. Douglas Doussan. "We're named after the Archangel Gabriel. The restoration of the statue is symbolic of the restoration of people's homes, people's lives, restoration of our parish and restoration of our city."
But this is no ordinary statue. "These strangers just dedicated themselves to bringing it back," said parishioner Belinda Rodgers.
The Philadelphia-based Interfaith Community Building Group, which was formed in 1996 in response to a spree of black church fires across the South, not only restored the statue but also rebuilt the back wall of the damaged church building. The first church the group helped rebuild was in Rocky Mount, Miss.
"We thought this was going to be a one-time effort," said ICBG member Frank Hollick, who returned to New Orleans for the rededication mass. "Well lo and behold, here we are 11 years later." With him were fellow parishioner Dale Mezzacappa, along with Peter Handler and Carol Towarnicky from Philadelphia's Mishkan Shalom Synagogue.
Since the church reopened three months after Katrina hit, parishioners have been sitting on folding chairs; a covered table serves as the altar. The only thing missing was the hand-carved statue of the church's patron saint.
Now, after an interfaith restoration effort that took the 5 1/2-foot-tall statue to Philadelphia and back again, St. Gabriel has returned to its home. Some say he looks better than before, and symbolizes the hope that their lives, community and city will be rebuilt even better than before the storm.
The parish welcomed the statue back on earlier this month in a nearly two-hour mass. The statue stood on its brand new cypress pedestal, next to the makeshift altar.
"The statue is obviously symbolic of our parish," said the Rev. Douglas Doussan. "We're named after the Archangel Gabriel. The restoration of the statue is symbolic of the restoration of people's homes, people's lives, restoration of our parish and restoration of our city."
But this is no ordinary statue. "These strangers just dedicated themselves to bringing it back," said parishioner Belinda Rodgers.
The Philadelphia-based Interfaith Community Building Group, which was formed in 1996 in response to a spree of black church fires across the South, not only restored the statue but also rebuilt the back wall of the damaged church building. The first church the group helped rebuild was in Rocky Mount, Miss.
"We thought this was going to be a one-time effort," said ICBG member Frank Hollick, who returned to New Orleans for the rededication mass. "Well lo and behold, here we are 11 years later." With him were fellow parishioner Dale Mezzacappa, along with Peter Handler and Carol Towarnicky from Philadelphia's Mishkan Shalom Synagogue.
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