From Holy Week to Easter: Reflections from the Archbishop

Blessed Easter to everyone! This is truly a season of joy and hope as we move towards the Feast of Pentecost.

What a blessed Holy Week and beautiful celebration of Easter! From Palm Sunday Masses, to the beautiful Chrism Mass and Triduum, the live Via Cruciswith our school children, the delicious Gumbo and enjoyable visit at Dooky Chase’s, to the Nine Church Walk on Good Friday, all of Holy Week was such an uplifting time for me as we accompanied Jesus on His way to Calvary and finally participated in His glorious resurrection! Yes, He is truly Risen and He has risen for you and me! What wonderful, beautiful traditions we have here in the archdiocese and it was so nice to participate in them with so many of you. Thank you to all who made this Holy Week so special. In particular, how grateful we are in the Archdiocese to welcome almost 800 new converts who joined the Church this Easter. I’m told it is the largest number of converts in our history! What a beautiful sign of renewal and so grateful for this.

Then on Divine Mercy Sunday, we began our archdiocesan-wide preparation for the consecration to the Sacred Heart this June. In the nine weeks leading up to the consecration, all of our parishes have been asked to pray in preparation for this important moment of grace. I encourage each of you to take part as fully as you are able – especially through prayer at Mass. This act of consecration continues a long and beautiful tradition in our local Church as we ask the Lord to guide and strengthen us today. As we continue this Easter season, this is another way for us to turn anew to our Lord for His protection and love.

Now, looking back a bit further I want to share some reflections from a very beautiful experience on my trip to Rome. We went to meet with our Holy Father, Pope Leo in his private library. It was a heart warming experience too, as he generously spent 35 minutes with our delegation from New Orleans. It is still hard to believe that we have an American Pope! I had been blessed to have meetings there before with Pope Francis and Pope Benedict on a number of occasions while serving in Rome, but to have the Pope speak English as his native tongue and to be so familiar with what is going on in our country and Church here in the US, is truly amazing. I think he will be able to guide us in our work of evangelization, preaching and shepherding in ways that will greatly assist us. 

The Holy Father’s connection with us here in New Orleans runs deep. Pope Leo’s fourth great-grandfather, Pedro Dionisio Panquinet, served as a sexton in the colonial parish of St. Louis which would become our cathedral. Along a parallel ancestral line, his fourth great-grandmother, Maria Catalina Guesnon Morales, who died in childbirth, rests with her premature infant just beneath our Cathedral. The Pope’s great-grandmother, Eugenie Grambois, was baptized in our current baptismal font in St. Louis Cathedral on January 8, 1840. Her parents, Eugene Grambois and Odile Coppel, were among the faithful who brought their child to that sacred font, joining generations of New Orleans families whose faith was formed in that holy place. His maternal grandparents, Joseph and Louise Martinez, made their home in the French Quarter, residing at the Upper Pontalba Building on St. Peter Street, overlooking Jackson Square – in the very shadow of our Cathedral where his family's faith took root. The Holy Father spoke to us about his grandparents and parents sharing stories about New Orleans and about subsequent visits here.

We are certainly proud to have the first American Pope in Leo XIV! And proud that his family called New Orleans home for 200 years. During our visit last week, he was grateful for the spiritual bouquet we took to Rome with us in which you all showed him our love, prayers and support, and he was so grateful for that.

We had three requests of our Holy Father as part of our meeting. As part of our capital campaign and restoration of St. Louis Cathedral, “Our City, our Cathedral”, we asked if we could name a renovated space in the current rectory to be the Pope Leo XIV Center for Evangelization to honor him and his family’s heritage here. He gave us permission! 

Our hope is to use the renovated space to help tourists become pilgrims, where Catholics can deepen their faith and friendship with Jesus and others can learn more about Him. Our second ask was to assist with the canonization of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos and beatification of Henriette Delille. The Holy Father was very interested in both of these and you can’t help but wonder what his family’s interactions were with these two holy people! Our third ask was that he come visit us! So please join in praying that these requests will all become realities for us. 

I think the Holy Father is prepared well for his role in our times. The three pillars of the Augustinian order are Unity, Truth and Love. Pope Leo has embodied these in his life and ministry, being an Augustinian and their major superior. His motto as Holy Father is “In the One (meaning Christ), we are one.” These pillars and motto will certainly serve him well as he strives to govern and shepherd the Church in our day. Likewise, his experiences of ministering in Peru for so many years and in Rome, in addition to his American background, make him a global Catholic citizen.

So what a joyful time these past few weeks have been! As we celebrate the Resurrection I encourage all of us to allow this revolutionary truth of Jesus being Risen from the dead to penetrate more deeply into our hearts, minds and souls by allowing us "to be caught up in the mystery." 

We must prioritize our friendship with the Risen Christ; meaning we must be people of prayer. During this Easter Season – let us commit to spend time in prayer each day drinking in the powerful truth that Christ who rose from the dead is walking – very personally – with each one of us now. One way to do this is to pray the Rosary each day. Countless saints, popes and mystics throughout the ages have taught us that the secret to knowing Christ is by way of His Holy Mother, Mary. Praying the glorious mysteries during Easter will inspire us to look at life from the glory God has in store for us – and help us to face any "valley of tears" with confidence, trust and even joy! May is Mary’s month and so this daily rosary starting now will get us ready for her month too!

Please know of my ongoing love, prayers and gratitude for all of you. I am grateful to be here with you and I am reminded of God's love and consolation that comes to me through you and my ministry here as I strive to shepherd this beautiful Church of New Orleans as best as I can. May we together, bring great glory and honor to God by how we live His promise of new life each day. God bless you and Easter graces be abundant in your life!