New Orleans and Traditional Catholicsm

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I have read Chris Rose’s columns and his recent book. I didn’t know anything until I read Sunday’s article about the Krewe de Vieux. He has really fallen in my estimation to be associated with such antics.
 
cheese_sdc said:
I was actually at the parade (we didn’t know the theme - my cousin was in NO for the weekend and my wife and I met them for the day - we live in Baton Rouge). While eating dinner the waiter told us that there was a parade in an hour so we went to catch it.

I’m not a prude by any stretch, but this parade was way over the top.

The floats are accurately described above, and actually do not convey the shock value of seeing them live.
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With so many Catholics in NO, why would they want their tax dollars to be wasted on that garbage? Or is anything sacred up for $ when it comes tourist season?
 
We are under attack again on CAF. Let’s see if I can recompose my thoughts:

My marine friend, this squid grew up in New Orleans. Mardi Gras has been going on for well over a hundred years. It is organized around “krewes” . “Krewes” charge membership fees to belong - some of which are quite steep. The mainline Mardi Gras "Krewes’ " members are the social elite of New Orleans. Doctors, lawyers, the $$$$$ crowd. This is the basis for Mardi Gras - the Ball not the parade. The social season in New Orleans for the wealthy reaches its peak when the Krewe of Rex and the Krewe of Comus meet at midnight on Ash Wednesday.

All of the Krewes have fees which they pay to the City of New Orleans to offset costs incurred for police and garbage clean up. There’s no free ride here. In addition, the city benefits from sales taxes.

Tourism, right now, is the City of New Orleans’ primary source of income. Most of the confines of the City of New Orleans are, legitimately, in ruins. The western suburbs are OK. New Orleans is still our nation’s second largest port. Think about it. Where does all that Mid-West grain go? Down the Mississippi to New Orleans. You make it sound as if New Orleans was only dependant on tourism. Not so. Oil and gas. Shipping. Shipyards. We are the connection to Latin America. So let’s not reduce Mardi Gras to a crass “we need the bucks and will do anything to get them” scenario. It’s just not so.

There is a poster on CAF who uses one of Bishop Sheen’s quotes about the Catholic Church. To the efrect that it is what people believe about HMC rather than what actually is. Same thing applies.

It ain’t native New Orleanians down there in the French Quarter. It’s tourists who are doing what they THINK we do. To my knowledge the “Girls Gone Wild” phenomena is not limited to New Orleans. Think Spring Break.

nola.com/mardigras/about/index.ssf?/mardigras/about/content/stories/faq.html#answer1

This link spells out the main questions about Mardi Gras. Note the difference between the French Quarter and Uptown. Uptown is where native New Orleanians are. I couldn’t tell you how many parades I watched on Third and St. Charles. Note also that the article cites “the Church”. Ponder that.

I have been on Bourbon St. in my 55 years ONCE. And by today’s standards it was nowhere near as bad. I did not see what I’ve seen on TV then. I just can’t stand the crowds. I went in 1976.

Don’t single out New Orleans. Society acrros the board has coarsened drastically.

No tax dollars were involved.
 
I’m from St. Bernard Parish - St. Bernard Catholic Church – www.stbernard-stbla.com if you care to see our little church. We are still closed down but had a meeting in Chalmette with a good turn out and hope to have a Mass on the Feast of St. Bernard - August 20th. Many of our parishioners are still not home (including me) but most are trying. I truly miss being in a Catholic area - Arkansas has more Catholic churches than I thought and they are well attended and supported but are very much in the minority. I ask you all to please say a prayer and/or contact the Archdiocese of New Orleans to request more churches be opened. Our church is very small but has a lot of history - we are also trying to get our cemetery back - it is located across the bayou from the church. Here in AR I travel 22.6 miles to go to a church the closest we have found to St. Bernard - there is one maybe 2 miles away but they are too modern for us. St. Bernard always had some Latin in the Mass until our last priest (I don’t think he knows Latin) - our Mass would be close to the one on EWTN. I would attend St. Patrick’s years ago when I had to work on the weekend - the lawfirm I worked for then was right next door - great for daily Mass at Noon. Good luck to everyone displaced by Katrina I know it is hard to adjust and some of us who are a little older hard to gather the funds to redo expecially when the Road Home says you qualify for $0.00. God bless.
 
airforcemom said:
I’m from St. Bernard Parish - St. Bernard Catholic Church – www.stbernard-stbla.com if you care to see our little church. We are still closed down but had a meeting in Chalmette with a good turn out and hope to have a Mass on the Feast of St. Bernard - August 20th. Many of our parishioners are still not home (including me) but most are trying. I truly miss being in a Catholic area - Arkansas has more Catholic churches than I thought and they are well attended and supported but are very much in the minority. I ask you all to please say a prayer and/or contact the Archdiocese of New Orleans to request more churches be opened. Our church is very small but has a lot of history - we are also trying to get our cemetery back - it is located across the bayou from the church. Here in AR I travel 22.6 miles to go to a church the closest we have found to St. Bernard - there is one maybe 2 miles away but they are too modern for us. St. Bernard always had some Latin in the Mass until our last priest (I don’t think he knows Latin) - our Mass would be close to the one on EWTN. I would attend St. Patrick’s years ago when I had to work on the weekend - the lawfirm I worked for then was right next door - great for daily Mass at Noon. Good luck to everyone displaced by Katrina I know it is hard to adjust and some of us who are a little older hard to gather the funds to redo expecially when the Road Home says you qualify for $0.00. God bless.
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Thank you for reminding me that there are many who are still far away, separated from their beloved homes & Churches. I will keep you and your beautiful, historic Church in my prayers. God Bless you.
 
I’ll say a prayer fo you and your family airforcemom. I know exactly how you feel. My house had 7.5 feet of water and sat under water for close to a month. I’m still dealing with the bureauracy to rebuild.I think Our Lady of Prompt Succor in Chalmette is opened now.
 
servantofall said:
I’ll say a prayer fo you and your family airforcemom. I know exactly how you feel. My house had 7.5 feet of water and sat under water for close to a month. I’m still dealing with the bureauracy to rebuild.I think Our Lady of Prompt Succor in Chalmette is opened now.
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Servantofall, you are also in my prayers.🙂
 
Lucania said:
Thank you for reminding me that there are many who are still far away, separated from their beloved homes & Churches. I will keep you and your beautiful, historic Church in my prayers. God Bless you.
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Airforcemom, you’ll be in my prayers as well. My cousin had 13’ of water in his home at Chalmette and extensive roof damage which, of course, was entirely flood related. Wind had nothing to do with it. His wife worked for Murphy and they relocated to El Dorado for a year until he was able to get a FEMA trailer to put in front of his two story, two apartment rental property. He actually camped out for a month on the second floor waiting for the trailer. He’s 63 and thinking about moving up to around Alexandria - even though his daughter and cousin are here in Baton Rouge.

All of the coverage on TV as awful as it was does not describe the damage I saw with my own two eyes down in Chalmette and Meraux. I don’t think I have words to adequately describe a 2,000 square foot home on a concrete slab being lifted slab and all and moved by the tidal surge and planted in the middle of the street. Or the bus sticking out a second floor window of a multiple story elderly housing facility on Archbishop Hannan Blvd. Yet, Chalmette never made the news.

And to you, I say: “Dat’s awrite hawt! We forgot to pray to Our Lady of Prompt Succor like we useta do. We gonna fix dat toot sweet! Me, I know dat Fr. Seelos from da Channel has been Blessed. He’s real good wit da sick but me, I’m gonna pray for his help too.”

And servant, you don’t know how much good it does my soul to hear Y’at spoken up here at the Winn Dixie in redneck Walker to the east of Baton Rouge over towards Hammond. I always stop and welcome them. A lot of folks from down in the City have relocated here.

I feel for you up there in Arkansas but at least you can get CDM or Community coffee and chickory online. (I was stationed in the Navy in Chicago back in the 70s and I got a monthly “care” package of CDM coffee and chickory and the Sunday comics from the TP). I do know what it means to miss New Orleans and I’m only an hour’s drive away.
 
I’ve been once to NO. About 4 years ago my mom was married on the steps of Jackson Square, across from the Cathedral. What an amazing city!!! It’s my mom’s most favorite place on the planet, and when the hurricane hit you would have thought our own homes had been ruined, we all cried so much.

I spent about an hour on Bourbon Street and decided I would never go back - there anyway. But I can’t wait to get back to the beauty that truly is/was New Orleans. The bands in the streets, the amazing food, the beautiful Churches.

We stayed at Le Pavillon for the week, and from the rooftop we could see the city, and the cruise ships docked for the night.

So many wonderful memories, and from only a one week stay!!

If you can find this very very old book “A Little Girl in Old New Orleans” - it is a wonderful story about the settling of New Orleans and gives a picture of the city as baby, and then how it grew through the prosperity of the sugar heyday into the grand place it was to become.

Anyway - thank you all for sharing your wonderful memories! I can’t wait to go back!!

~Liza
 
yeah, i hear what you mean. Whenever i talk to people from other states i don’t know, I tell them i’m from New Orleans, and most people’s first thought is “partier”. And as well known as New Orleans is for partying, drinking, and other stuff, it should also be remembered for the historical and religious aspect. As part of Louisiana, new orleans is Parish, which is a local church with its field of activity. If one man shoots someone else in New York, does that make New York a homicide ville. If a group of muslims fly a plane into towers means that all muslims are terrorists.

But also from a different aspect, we, as Catholics, or Christians, we are to help others follow in Christ’s steps.
 
servantofall said:
The Krewe de Vieux is a group that stages a parade that moves through thr French Quarters. here is an exceprt from the article that appeared in yesterday’s paper:

While much of the reaction to the 2005 parade was delayed, based on viewing of images on a Krewe du Vieux Web site, many Catholics were angry about one participant’s use of fake breasts next to the words “Our Lady of very Prompt Succor” and references to Jesus as “Cheesus.”

They also protested one float’s use of the image of a lamb chop, with signs proclaiming “He Died for Ewe” and “Ewes for Jesus.” In addition, the image of a male sex organ was incorporated into one float that alluded to the biblical story of Jesus turning water into wine.

The group claims that the theme of every parade is a parody of some current event. This was over the top and very offense.
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Chris Rose has responded and for those of you who don’t think that there was no public outcry from the Catholics of New Orleans, think again.

nola.com/rose/t-p/index.ssf?/base/living-0/117074949442110.xml&coll=1

Two things to note in his very ambigous column:

I. He cleary states that it is tourists who are responsible for the greater part of Mardi Gras debauchery - something which I have long maintained.
  1. If you don’t think the Archdiocese of NO is not a force to be reckoned with in NO, think again. I would not be surprised to see the Krewe de Vieux’s parade permit yanked for next year.
Chris Rose was wrong. He should have just profoundly apologized. Freedom of speech is an American ideal but it should be tempered with reason and respect for others. I have to wonder what his reaction to this would be if such “satire” were directed at other religious or ethnic minorities.

nola.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1170598353228390.xml?NZNPMT&coll=1
 
Chris Rose was wrong. He should have just profoundly apologized. Freedom of speech is an American ideal but it should be tempered with reason and respect for others. I have to wonder what his reaction to this would be if such “satire” were directed at other religious or ethnic minorities
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he’s a typical liberal–no sense of the sacred and no fear of God. signs of a darkened intellect. he thinks everything is a joke.

this makes me sick. if catholics weren’t so passive these days maybe we could change the city. the archdiocese was silent on this issue. it was at st. patricks that brought this to my attention.

freedom of speech has its limits. catholics need to put a stop this and archbishop hughes needs to speak up.
 
If the Archdiocese didn’t say anything in 2005, they are apparently saying something now. We have a similarly “irreverant/satirical” parade here in Baton Rouge called Spanish Town. But they have the decency to limit it to politics and sexual innuendo - and that parade goes right next to the cathedral. I did see the letter to the editor in the TP this week from the woman who said she was a “practicing Catholic” and that if we didn’t like it, don’t go to the parade.

I wonder what she would say to Abp. Rummel who in 1962 publicly (on TV) on the steps of the Chancery on Carrolton Ave. excommunicated two women and the parish president of Plaquemines Parish, Leander Perez, who were protesting the Bishop’s order to integrate the Catholic schools within the Archdiocese of New Orleans (which at that time included Baton Rouge and Houma-Thibodaux).

Abp. Rummel desegregated the Catholic schools in the Archidocese in 1962. He publicly excommunicated a major political figure.

Back in the late 80s, good ol’ Brother Jimmy here in BR had launched a campaign againsts Catholics. (As an aside…I had never encountered anti-Catholicism prior to moving up here in '76 to go to grad school at LSU. In 1986, I was exposed for the first time to Boettner’s Catholicism from a co-worker who brought it into her office - a state government office in which both of us were professionals. Brother Jimmy was stirring his compatriots up. Jack Chick tracts started appearing in the office.) Things were getting very nasty across the city, very quickly.

Bishop Stanley J. Ott (born and raised across the river in Gretna), went to visit Brother Jimmy. He would never comment on what was said although their meeting was made known on TV Swaggart never stopped his diatribes before his fall from power.

Bishop Ott died in 1992 and was buried in a plain cypress coffin made by the Benedictine monks across the lake. And as we consider what happened to Brother Jimmy let us contemplate that great old New Orleans’ saying - “God don’t like ugly”.

The Krewe de Vieux uttered their blashphemies in the spring of 2005. I’m not drawing a connection between what went on in the spring and what came in September. But if that great old New Orleans saying has meaning (and I believe it does), then the Archbishop should lead by example and DO something.

Or maybe we, the people, should be writing the Abp. and asking him to do something.
 
It’s wonderful to hear of how New Orleans once was. New Orleans does need the tourist money to help their economy but sadly in my paper in the Northeast, there are two articles. One is about the Mardi Gras and it shows the crazy floats and from article…

“Judy Weaver 49, and R.M. Elfer 50, wore nuns’ habits with camouflage capes as the Angry Little Sisters of the Apocalypse. They carried rulers bearing the slogan :weapons of mass instruction” and what they called novena bombs - originally toilet floats - and rapid-fire rosaries. “We are cleaning up crime in the city” and Weaver.

The second article shows a nice group of young girls from England with pancakes doing a fun pancake race for “Shrove Tuesday”.

I wonder if my paper is biased toward catholics but not protestants.
 
You’re right, we do need tourist dollars. But more importantly, we need those Americans who can come, to come and see first hand the devastation and to understand that this could happen anywhere. Its also a shame that the news article to say anything about how we New Orlenians really welcome the tourist and will help to make their visit a pleasant experience. To us Mardi Gras has become a time to forget about the destruction, the bureaucracy involved in rebuilding, and our own struggles. It’s a time to celebrate life, celebrate the hopes of rebuilding, and remember what was and to envision what will be. But throughout it all, at midnight last night, the city shut down in recognition of Ash Wednesday and churches were packed as catholics and many non- catholics attended mass and received ashes to begin lent.
 
orignally posted servantofall
But throughout it all, at midnight last night, the city shut down
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I heard this on the radio station but I wish they would have said more. It shows that there is respect for the religious Holy Day.
 
And, as I have pointed out before, the likelihood is that those two are not even native New Orleanians. There were actually more tourists than natives attending the parades yesterday.

I didn’t go to the parades yesterday and I haven’t since 1991 but if I elected to go, I would not go on Canal St. or in the Quarter because that is where the tourists act as they think we do which bears no earthly resemblance to what the majority of us in south Louisiana do during Mardi Gras.

I did notice that the restaurants here in Baton Rouge had about half of their normal lunch crowd and there sure were a lot of cans of tuna to be found around the office and in the check-out lines.

Believe me television stations and newspapers all across south Louisiana are full of coverage of Ash Wednesday today.
 
brotherhrolf said:
I did notice that the restaurants here in Baton Rouge had about half of their normal lunch crowd and there sure were a lot of cans of tuna to be found around the office and in the check-out lines.
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Hi Brotherhrolf, can you believe down at the Claibourne building downtown, the Aramark cafeteria served turkey and dressing on Ash Wednesday:( ? They did have 3 pieces of shrimp pizza left, but I don’t like seafood on pizza, so I just had chips. (I forgot to bring PB&J or something from home). I could not make Mass at lunch, so I went to the Cathedral at 5:15. It was very nice. I was out at 6:00. My mom went to ICC at 5:00 and was not out till after 6:30.
 
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